<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>When Am I Gonna Lose You? by CosmicEclipse</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24788521">When Am I Gonna Lose You?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicEclipse/pseuds/CosmicEclipse'>CosmicEclipse</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:02:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>23,615</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24788521</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicEclipse/pseuds/CosmicEclipse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of one shots focusing on the Non-Phantom Thieves girls finding out just how dangerous the job is.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Amamiya Ren/Kawakami Sadayo, Amamiya Ren/Mifune Chihaya, Amamiya Ren/Ohya Ichiko, Amamiya Ren/Takemi Tae, Amamiya Ren/Togo Hifumi, Kawakami Sadayo/Kurusu Akira, Kurusu Akira/Mifune Chihaya, Kurusu Akira/Ohya Ichiko, Kurusu Akira/Takemi Tae, Kurusu Akira/Togo Hifumi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>180</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Devious Devil</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is an idea I had that was inspired by "24 Hours" by OriginalName2 here on AO3, which I highly recommend in you like the Akira/Sadayo ship, and to a lesser extent, Points of View by Archeste, also here on AO3. I originally posted this on my FF.net account, so if you follow me there you've definitely read this already. If anything, this will have only minor touch ups from that version.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You know it’s not polite to be on your phone when you’re on a date.” Ichiko teased.</p><p>Akira looked up from his phone, an apologetic smile played across his features and she couldn’t help but think about how good he looked dressed up. They’d decided on a formal restaurant for this date, just because Akira thought she deserved it. Then his phone started buzzing. He’d tried to ignore it, but it kept going, forcing him to look.</p><p>“Sorry. The team wants to go do some work tomorrow. We’ve been kind of busy and let some requests pile up.”</p><p>“Speaking of,” She got that mischievous look she had whenever she tried to get info out of certain people, “I want to see how you do it.”</p><p>“Absolutely not.” He replied almost before she was done speaking.</p><p>“Oh come on.” She whined. “You won’t even tell me how you do it, the least you can do is let me see.”</p><p>“I don’t tell you because you wouldn’t believe me. I can’t take you because it’s far too dangerous.”</p><p>“I mean, how dangerous can it really be if you keep doing it?”</p><p>His silence sobered her mood a bit.</p><p>“Ichiko, have you ever gambled?”</p><p>“Not really…” She knew where this was going, how could she not with her job, but she let him go on anyway, wanting to hear his explanation.</p><p>“Every request we get, big or small, is a dice roll. Sometimes we go down there and it’s like we’re rolling sevens all the way through, everything goes perfectly.</p><p>Enemies are weaker than us, we pick up good items, make good money, no one gets hurt. Other times…” Akira trailed off, looking down to his food. He was silent for far too long. The look in his eyes said he was remembering something unpleasant.</p><p>“Babe?” She shook him gently. She didn’t like that look on him.</p><p>“Other times,” He started again, “It’s like every roll of those dice could mean death and we keep coming up snake eyes. It’s like every choice we make down to the second could mean the difference between an injury or death. We encounter enemies that outright nullify, repel, or even get more powerful from our attacks. We come across more deviations than usual. Everything just goes to hell. I don’t want to subject you to that. It’s hard enough knowing my choices could get my friends killed, it’s another thing subjecting you to that when you can’t even fight back.”</p><p>She was silent for a few seconds, taking in the look of sheer anguish on his face at the mere idea of it.</p><p>“Okay, fine, I’ll stop asking about it.” She sighed. She really hated seeing him look like a kicked puppy.</p><p>“Thank you. You have tomorrow off right?”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“I’ll shoot Sojiro a text and stay over.”</p><p>“You sly dog.” Ichiko smiled deviously. “Well if you think it’ll be so easy to get in my pants,” She leaned close from across the table with a sultry look on her face “You’re damn right.” She whispered slyly.</p><p>Akira laughed lightly, causing her to laugh as well.</p><p>———</p><p>Despite how he looked when he told her about his work, despite telling him she’d leave it alone, she couldn’t bring herself to actually do so. Ichiko glanced at her bedside clock, an alarm clock Akira had bought for her, and sighed at the time; 2:15 AM. He hadn’t explained any more about how they actually did what they did and while she was happy to smooth over his worries, she couldn’t help but be curious about the power he and his team seemed to hold.</p><p>She knew it was wrong of her, but she ended up checking his phone. It was convenient her bed was against the wall and she only had 1 night stand, meaning she didn’t have to lean over him to get to it. It would have been a little awkward if he’d woken up to her chest hanging over his face, not that she had much to hang.<br/>Leaving that sore spot behind, she ran through a few of his most recent text messages. She was immediately alarmed by just how many women he seemed to be spending time with, even one right up the street from her regular hangout. Ignoring that for now, she’d have a talk with him about other women, especially the older ones, later. For now she moved to group chats and got exactly what she was looking for. They’d be meeting at Shibuya Station a little after noon to do their requests. All she had to do was follow him and she was sure she’d be able to find the truth.</p><p>———</p><p>After waking up to the smell of coffee and cooked food, he really was too good to her sometimes, they spent the morning together before he took off. She changed into a set of rather conspicuous clothes but knew he’d probably pass her over if he saw her and gelled her hair back, opting to wear a different set of shades. The outfit came together with her wearing a pair of old black cargo pants and a white long sleeved crop top under a black sleeveless jacket. She felt a gun or something would probably tie it together nicely, but had to rush out the door to make the same train as him.</p><p>Lucky for her she didn’t get the same car as him. That would have been hell, even with the amount of people packed into the trains this time of day. Actually, if anything that would have raised their chances of meeting.</p><p>“Finally.” Ichiko sighed as she got off the packed train, fanning herself. You’d think it was the morning rush with how many people there were, but it was nearly lunch time. “Now where’d he go?” She asked, looking around the platform. She spotted him walking up the stairs and followed from a good distance. She probably could’ve gotten closer but she wasn’t sure if he’d gotten his cat yet and couldn’t risk it recognizing her. This wouldn’t have been a worry with anyone else, but he talked to that cat like it was a person and, creepily enough, it seemed to talk back.</p><p>“Hey, guys.” He called, spotting his friends standing near the green train car.</p><p>She saw him take a bag from an orange haired girl that she realized his cat was in. Hands in her pockets and with the stride of a completely different person, she walked just past the group and stopped out of sight to listen to them talk.</p><p>“Finally, Mona was starting to get annoying.” A girl said.</p><p>Meow.</p><p>“Oh, shut it, Morgana. You get really talky when you think people are ignoring you.” Another girl, different than the last, older sounding.</p><p>Meow.</p><p>“You always go on and on when I go to the Temple to meditate.” Akira said.</p><p>“Since when do you meditate?” A rough sounding boys voice asked.</p><p>“Since you took me to Kichijoji. Found a Temple there and decided to meditate. It’s quite relaxing.”</p><p>Meow.</p><p>“That sounds intriguing. I too, must take a visit to this temple to ‘Calm the heart’ as you say.” A more refined boy said.</p><p>“Guys. We’ve got missions to do. We can talk about meditating later.” Another woman, though she didn’t quite sound like a teenager.</p><p>“Right, no more being mean to Mona-chan.” A softer girls voice.</p><p>Meow.</p><p>“At least until after we finish the missions.” She finished.</p><p>Meow!</p><p>“Alright, let’s get going.” Akira said.</p><p>“Right.” The group said.</p><p>Ichiko felt a weird pulse wash over her.</p><p>“Huh?” She looked around the corner and saw the group sort of fading away. Her eyes widened behind her shades and she decided to take the desperation move and move towards them. She managed to grab Akira’s bag just as another pulse hit, then everything turned red.</p><p>“Um, Joker, I think we have a problem.” A new voice said from right next to her. She didn’t get the chance to register it as she looked around the scenery. It looked like the train station, but everything was tinted dark red like a dark room and there were thick red vein like things on the walls. They pulsed every few seconds and she could have sworn they were alive. She snapped back to reality as she heard someone yelling.</p><p>“How is this my fault?!” The girl who sounded older said.</p><p>“Because you’re so trash at following people I forgot I knew people who were good at it.” Akira said calmly.</p><p>She opened her mouth to say something but closed it and turned away in embarrassment as the blond kid laughed.</p><p>“Oh yeah, she tried to follow us around Kichijoji holding a book up in front of her face! She’s the least stealthy thing we have on this team!”</p><p>“Pot meet Kettle.” The orange haired girl said.</p><p>Akira sighed rubbing his head and she got the first good look at him since coming to this strange place. He was dressed in all black with a three tailed trench coat, red gloves, and a white porcelain domino mask. He looked hot in it.</p><p>“Akira?”</p><p>“You promised you would stop asking about this, Ichiko.”</p><p>“I take it you know her then, Joker?” The refined boy asked.</p><p>“I do.”</p><p>“How’d you know it was me?”</p><p>“You’re the only one who would do something like this. I probably should have expected this though. You do have poor impulse control.”</p><p>“Hey!”</p><p>“I really, really, want to be mad because I told you how dangerous this was last night.”</p><p>“I know, but I just-.”</p><p>“But you look really hot in that outfit so we can talk about it later.”</p><p>“Huh?! Hey, you can’t just say stuff like that!”</p><p>“Yes I can.” He smirked devilishly and she felt her face go red.</p><p>“Who is, this, by the way, Joker?” The blonde girl asked.</p><p>“This is my girlfriend, Ichiko Ohya.”</p><p>“Oh shit, I recognize you!” The blond boy shouted. “You’re that journalist lady!”</p><p>“Really?!” The blonde girl asked.</p><p>“Damn, Joker, you sure know how to pick a girl.” The boy said.</p><p>“Can we send her back?” The orange haired girl said.</p><p>“I’m willing to bet she’d just get the Nav anyway. I’d rather not chance her coming back alone.” Akira said.</p><p>“So she’s stuck with us. You sure, Joker? Today might be more dangerous than normal.” Blond guy said.</p><p>“I know. But like I said, she’s safer with us. I know she’ll come back here if she gets the chance and I don’t want to risk her being alone.”</p><p>“Uh, sorry to ask, but, why do you keep calling him Joker?” Ichiko asked.</p><p>“We have code names.” The- actually she couldn’t place the speaker this time. “Down here.” She looked down to see a weird cat… thing.</p><p>She screamed.</p><p>“Why do they always scream?” He sighed.</p><p>“Calm down, it’s just Morgana.”</p><p>“That’s your cat?!” She screamed.</p><p>“This is how he looks in the Metaverse.” Akira explained.</p><p>“Metaverse?”</p><p>“The crash course is the Metaverse is a manifestation of the subconscious. Where we are now, Mementos, is the public collective unconscious. We basically go around and literally steal the distorted desires of people that are doing wrong. Either their behavior is overlooked, or the cops can’t do anything about them. That’s where we come in.” Akira explained.</p><p>“So you… The calling cards were literal. You literally steal peoples desires.” She said, part fascinated and part terrified.</p><p>“Yup.” The blonde girl said.</p><p>“To answer you question about Joker,” The cat was talking again, “We use code names while in the metaverse since we don’t know precisely what effect using our real names in a place like this would have.”</p><p>“I see.”</p><p>“So I’m Joker, the blond guy is Skull, blonde girl is Panther, Morgana is Mona, blue haired guy is Fox, Brunette is Queen, the orange gremlin is Oracle, and the fluff ball over there is Noir.”</p><p>“Uh huh… Why doesn’t your name match your outfit like some of them?”</p><p>“Joker’s our trump card.” Oracle said.</p><p>“This guy’s a little special down here. Each of us got a power called Persona, basically our inner selves. Joker here can switch Persona out like candy. He has a new one damn near every time we tackle a mission.” Skull wrapped an arm around Akira’s neck.</p><p>“Wait, you can just switch out a manifestation of your true self?” Ichiko asked.</p><p>“We’ve kind of ignored the real implications of that until this point, and I’m not really keen on diving into it.” Akira said.</p><p>“Hey!” Queen shouted. “We’ve got missions and a long way to go people! We are on the clock.”</p><p>“Right.” Akira turned and his demeanor instantly changed. “We’ve got three targets, all in Area 5. This means we’ll need to be on our toes for this. We should be encountering strong shadows along the way. Since I’m basically on babysitting duty-.”</p><p>“Hey!”</p><p>“I’ll be fighting from range today. That means all magic. Skull, Fox, you two are our heaviest hitters so you’re in the front. Queen, you’re with them since you can take a hit and keep going. Mona is on healing duty, and Panther will be with him. Noir, you’re with me. If I get distracted for any reason or get separated from you guys, you watch Ichiko like a hawk. You’ve got full permission to go all out on anything that gets within fifteen feet of you.”</p><p>“Yes, sir!” The smile on her face was far too toothy for her liking.</p><p>“Let’s go.”</p><p>————</p><p>This was probably going to traumatize her, Ichiko realized as they made their descent into the manifestation of the darkest part of humanities psyche. The lower down they went the less like a subway station this place looked. The veins on the walls were more defined, the areas changed color, gradually getting darker, and the things… The things they fought, the Shadows, only got more and more grotesque.</p><p>“How are you feeling?” Akira asked, sitting to her right. She was in the back of the Cat-Van (She’d never get used to that) sandwiched between her boyfriend and the fluffy haired psycho girl with the massive fuck-off axe and grenade launcher.</p><p>“I’m kind of regretting coming down here.”</p><p>“Yeah, this place is kinda scary, huh?” Panther asked.</p><p>“You get used to it.” Queen said.</p><p>“I kind of enjoy it.” Noir giggled.</p><p>“Of course you would, Noir.” Skull sighed.</p><p>“The women on our team can be quite terrifying at times.” Fox said.</p><p>She’d started to get a handle on the group after riding with them for a while. Fox was one of those eccentric artist types. She’d even seen him make a frame with his fingers when looking at certain Shadows. Skull was quick to anger but a genuine person. The type of guy who tended to wear his heart on his sleeve. Panther was one of those girls that was far too pretty for her personality. Just looking at her you’d assume she was a girly girl who wouldn’t be into the type of thing that could break a nail. Turned out she played one-of-the-guys pretty well. Queen was the team mom, the easiest to figure out. She was also the type of repressed girl who took out her frustrations with sports. The fact that she used knuckles to fight spoke of her immense physical strength for her size. Oracle was tricky. She had the younger girl pegged as the nerd type, but it turned out it went farther. She was the groups tech specialist. Mona was easy. She’d spent enough time with that cat to have him figured out quick, sassy little guy he was. The hardest, by far, was Noir. The girl was soft spoken and easy going but the second there was a fight she was a monster. She was the worst kind of sadist, the kind you would never see coming until it was too late. Seeing her giggle maniacally after decapitating a literal Angel was more than disturbing. She was just glad she was on her side.</p><p>All in all she decided her boyfriend had a good set of friends at his back. She felt a little more comfortable knowing he had such good support if he was going to be coming to a place like this.</p><p>The group stepped down into the next area and she could immediately feel something was wrong. The color of the floor seemed to change on a gradient and she could see the air itself pulsing and the air was cold enough she could see her own breath. Then there was the sound. Chains. Off in the distance she could hear the sound of rattling chains and as if the sharp change in atmosphere wasn’t enough to shake her, the sound made her blood run cold. She looked at the group to see them just barely better than she was.</p><p>“Fuck.” Akira said, body tense and eyes focused.</p><p>“We need to go back.” Oracle said.</p><p>“Come on.” He grabbed her hand and they sprinted back up the stairs.</p><p>“What was that about?” She asked, through gasps, trying to catch her breath.</p><p>“Deviation. Some areas end up pitch black, sometimes you get that. The Reaper.” Mona explained.</p><p>“The Reaper?!” She near shouted.</p><p>“The most dangerous Shadow we’ve ever come across. We don’t know where it came from or why, but we know if we stay in one place for too long it shows up.” Queen explained.</p><p>“Why did we come back up? Won’t it just chase us?”</p><p>“No. We know it’s damn near omnipresent down here, but it only shows up when it wants to get us moving or scare the shit out of us.” Skull said.</p><p>“Mementos is constantly in flux. Some areas change immediately after we leave, some take a few minutes. We came back up because I didn’t want you anywhere near that thing. Even we can barely hold that thing off long enough to let us get away. I’d rather not have to do that with you around.” Akira explained.</p><p>“You rolled Snake Eyes, huh?” She asked.</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>The group was silent for a minute before perking back up.</p><p>“Alright, break times over. The deviation should be gone now.” Oracle said.</p><p>“Okay, let’s go.” Akira said.</p><p>They entered the floor again and nothing had changed. Still the cold, pulsing air and horrid sound of chains off in the distance. She felt Akira grab her and they started back up the stairs.</p><p>“What the fuck?!” Skull shouted.</p><p>“I don’t know!” Oracle shouted back.</p><p>“This is strange. Usually a deviation disappears immediately. But this time…” Fox trailed off.</p><p>“It’s fine. We can afford to wait another minute here.” Akira said.</p><p>They actually took a minute and a half. She knew they were stalling. They were really worried it wasn’t gone. If they spent too much time here and the Reaper showed up, then they go down and the deviation wasn’t gone they’d be in even more trouble. So they pressed on.</p><p>The sound of chains hit her before the cold this time and she felt her body freeze up again. She looked to the until then all powerful Phantom Thieves. They looked downcast, worried, downright defeated. Looking at his team struggle with the possible doom they faced she could see the scared teenagers under the masks. They seemed to have come to the conclusion that this was unavoidable. She looked to Akira, the leader, her boyfriend. He was so strong, both in the real world and down here. He seemed like Superman with how well he handled problems and fights. Now, when literal Death was the opponent, she could see that mask crack. The fear and worry he held underneath. All the emotions he almost never let her see when they were together were right out in the open.</p><p>He glanced at her.</p><p>And he stood straighter. All that fear was still their, but now she could see the Akira she was used to. She could see the determination in his eyes.</p><p>“The plan hasn’t changed.” Akira’s voice was strong and sure. “Formation is the same if we get into a fight. Avoid the Reaper as best as we can, but if we get dragged into confrontation then we do as we always have and pull hit and run tactics. We’ll get through this.”</p><p>His team straightened up, new found determination seemed to flow through them, make them more sure of themselves. All from Akira giving a few words of encouragement. She suddenly understood why he was the one with the power he had. She saw in real time the reason he had the ability to switch out Persona and none of the others did. His strength of Will and his ability to mitigate or even banish certain feelings in time of crises and slide on the right mask for the situation was uncanny.</p><p>The group piled into the car and sped off.</p><p>Apparently Mementos was fucking with them. Every turn they took was a dead end and that meant they were wasting time. They ended up sticking to the main path and as they neared a door she heard the sound of a gunshot. She felt two sets of arms wrap around her as the van was blown to the side before returning back to cat form.</p><p>“Dammit, we’re so close.” Oracle said through gritted teeth.</p><p>“Business as usual people.” Akira said. “Noir, take her. He likes to chase me so I’ll hold him off for a while. Fox, Queen, cover fire.”</p><p>“Got it!”</p><p>That plan was out the window immediately. Queen and Fox took pot shots at this… thing, she couldn’t really describe. It was a tall floating cloth with blood and bullet holes in its head with chains wrapped around its chest and two guns longer than most cars she’s seen. She watched as Akira shot a lightning spell at it, but it dodged, even ignoring him as it launched an Ice spell at the two shooting. They had to dodge to avoid the pillars of ice that nearly skewered them.</p><p>A gun shot sounded but nothing happened.</p><p>“It’s charged up!” Oracle shouted.</p><p>Another gunshot.</p><p>Noir screamed as she tried to dodge the very large bullet that came flying at them. She started to roll out of the way but remembered about her passenger. Instead, Ichiko was sent flying, watching in slow motion as the bullet hit and damn near tore a fist sized hole in the poor girl before it sent her flying and bounced her off a wall. Ichiko hit the ground as she heard Akira yell.</p><p>“Noir! Mona, heal her!”</p><p>“You okay?” Ichiko looked up to find Panther standing over her. She couldn’t answer, too shocked by the sight of blood and the young girls limp body on the tracks. “Don’t worry, Noir’s a tough one.” The crack in her voice didn’t help convince her.</p><p>“Panther, look out!”</p><p>Another gunshot.</p><p>Ichiko was tossed again as an ice tree shot from the ground and Panther screamed.</p><p>“God dammit!” Akira screamed. He was still running towards them. The Reaper had baited them, leaving Akira too far to have been of any help so far, but he was fast and he was almost there. He eyes locked with his as she saw the shadow loom over her.</p><p>The Reaper was a lot creepier up close, she thought as it fired another shot. She could see the energy flow around it as it aimed at her. It wasn’t until she was looking down the 5 foot barrel did the sense of danger finally truly kick in. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see what happened next.</p><p>A gunshot.</p><p>But no pain.</p><p>She opened her eyes to see Akira in front of her engulfed in a tower of flames. Her throat was tight. She could feel the flames as if they were on her skin even from a few feet away. She could only imagine the pain he was feeling in the middle of that inferno.</p><p>“Joker!” Queen shouted.</p><p>The pillar of flames died down and he stood strong in front of the monster, his outfit still had embers flying off from the parts that burned, and she was surprised he still had all his hair.</p><p>“I’ll kill you!” Ichiko shivered. She’d never heard so much emotion in his voice. She didn’t even know he was capable of anger, let alone pure rage. “Lucifer!” Even the rest of the Phantom Thieves were in awe as the giant six winged demon materialized above him. “Morning Star!”</p><p>Everything went black for just a second before a sky full of stars appeared above them. Ichiko couldn’t help but find it beautiful. At least before they started moving. The stars streaked across the fake sky leaving white trails behind. Then the brightest star fired, a long whit beam of energy shot from the heavens themselves and came down on The Reaper. The light from the beam was too intense and she had to close her eyes. When she opened them again, there was nothing.</p><p>Akira stood, looking drained of energy, but The Reaper was gone and only a crater existed where it once did.</p><p>“Holy shit, dude…” She heard Skull say from somewhere nearby.</p><p>“Ishtar! Salvation!” Another Persona appeared behind him, this one a blonde woman with lopsided horns. A green light flooded over them and she felt better than she had in years.</p><p>“The next floor’s a rest area, we should head down.” Oracle said.</p><p>The group said nothing, but followed the suggestion.</p><p>——</p><p>“Dude, Lucifer?” Skull asked.</p><p>“Yeah, I got him a few days ago. He’s really strong and I was kind of hoping we wouldn’t face anything that would need that level of fire power.” Akira said.</p><p>They were sitting in a subway rest area, eating curry and coffee Akira had cooked. Everyone seemed in better spirits and even Panther and Noir were looking a lot better than they were before.</p><p>“Well I’m sure as hell glad you had him.”</p><p>“Was that a pun?” Oracle asked.</p><p>“I didn’t mean it to be one.”</p><p>Ichiko sat silently, barely touching her share of food, Akira just gave her half of his, and looking down at the floor. She felt bad. Really bad. That thing was after her. Anyone could see that. Probably because she was the weakest. Akira said it usually chased him, which meant it preferred to hunt on the extremes: Extremely strong or extremely weak. And that weakness had nearly gotten two teenagers killed and had seen her boyfriend go up in a pillar of flames. The only reason things weren’t worse was because Akira was strong and he had managed to get to her before anyone else had to sacrifice themselves to buy him time.</p><p>She felt so useless. Like a burden. She hadn’t felt like that once since she’d started dating Akira. Sure, he took charge in a lot of situations and had to take care of her when she drank a little too much, but she’d never felt useless. He knew he could count on her for damn near anything. Except this.</p><p>“Excuse me.”</p><p>She looked up to see Noir sitting next to her.</p><p>“Oh, hey. Uh, how are you feeling?”</p><p>“Much better thanks to a mixture of medicine, healing magic, and delicious food.” She smiled softly. Ichiko looked away. She didn’t deserve that smile. She’d nearly gotten her killed. “No one blames you, you know.” She said softly.</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>“No one blames you. We had an idea of The Reapers attack patterns before this. Joker was hoping it would go for him as it tends to do when we can’t avoid it, but that didn’t happen. We were all prepared to step in to protect you.”</p><p>“Why? You don’t know me. I’m just your leaders no good alcoholic girlfriend.”</p><p>“Because that’s what we do. We help people. That’s what the Phantom Thieves are all about. You might not see it, but Akira thinks the world of you. His face never lights up the way it does when he gets a text from you for anything else. Every time he mentions he has a date he looks like he’s on top of the world. We come down here prepared to die on every mission because we believe in the things we’re doing. We were ready to die for you because Akira deserves to be happy. He does too much for everyone else, never thinking of himself. You know he didn’t even want to let things get this far? He wanted to be done with Kamoshida, but he saw all the people suffering the way he was and decided to keep going. He works 4 jobs on top of this and helps so many other people just because he wants to see them be happy. He’s helped every single one of us so much more than we can ever repay. If one of us has to give ourselves up so he can maintain the small slice of happiness he’s carved out for himself we’d gladly do so. Don’t beat yourself up over us getting hurt. This isn’t an unusual occurrence. We pop recovery pills like candy down here.”</p><p>Ichiko couldn’t help but laugh a little at the joke, and Noir smiled in return.</p><p>“Thanks.”</p><p>“I’m always happy to help. That said, if you see a new app on your phone with a weird red and black eye icon, please don’t use it. It will take you into the metaverse, and the last thing we need is Joker going crazy trying to find you. He might tear Tokyo apart to do so.”</p><p>“I got it.”</p><p>“Good.”</p><p>————</p><p>“You’re back— Oh! So this is your lady friend, eh? You sure do know how to pick ‘em.” Sojiro smirked. “Head on up, I’ll get you two some coffee, on the house. You look like hell.”</p><p>“Thanks, Boss.” Akira smiled before leading her up to his room.</p><p>“You live up here?”</p><p>“It’s not much but it’s the room Boss gave him.” She heard Morgana say from the banister.</p><p>“I’m never going to get used to that.” She sighed.</p><p>“You will eventually. Just don’t let him sucker you into buying him sushi.” Akira said.</p><p>“Hey!”</p><p>“Anyway, you understand now, right?” Akira’s voice was serious, but his face was impassive.</p><p>“… Yeah… I shouldn’t have done that. I nearly got your friends killed.”</p><p>“They know the risks. We all do. But we can fight back. You can’t. That’s why I didn’t want to take you. And, let’s be honest, would you believe me if I told you any of that?”</p><p>Ichiko sighed before slumping into the love seat next to him. “No.”</p><p>“So I don’t have to worry about you trying to sneak back in?”</p><p>“No.” She sighed again, leaning into his chest. “You know when you scold me like this it makes me forget I’m the older one.”</p><p>“Get a room, you two.”</p><p>“We have a room, stupid cat!” She nearly shouted at him for ruining the moment.</p><p>“Hey, she’s talking to me!” Morgana smirked.</p><p>Akira rolled his eyes.</p><p>“Hey,” She looked up at him, “I’m not sure… God, I feel so dumb saying this. It’s like being a little girl again. I… I don’t think I’ll sleep well after all that. The shock hasn’t quite kicked in. Is it okay if I spend the night?”</p><p>“Long as you use birth control.” Ichiko nearly jumped out of her skin. “Last thing this guy needs is more problems.” Sojiro said, sitting the coffee next to the TV.</p><p>“Thanks, Boss.”</p><p>“No problem. I was serious about the birth control thing, though.”</p><p>“We’re not gonna bang tonight.” Ichiko screeched after she got over her shock.</p><p>“None of my business. I’m gonna close up soon.”</p><p>“Morgana, stay with Futaba tonight.” Akira said.</p><p>“But I stayed with her last night!” He whined. “Her room smells like instant ramen.”</p><p>“You were the one complaining about us having heartfelt moments.” Ichiko pointed out.</p><p>“Fine, fine.” Morgana got up and stalked off muttering something about kicking Akira out when he became human again and got with Ann.</p><p>“Let’s just enjoy this coffee before we get to bed.” Akira sighed.</p><p>“Hey.” Ichiko said, getting his attention. Akira turned to her and was met with a kiss. When she pulled away he was still a little stunned. “I know it was my fault, but still, thanks for saving me.”</p><p>“You say the word and I’ll come running.” He smiled.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Death in the Desert</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tae stepped out of the grocery store near her office and looked up at the sky. Pulling the Popsicle from her mouth, she sighed and wiped her forehead. “It’s so hot.” Truly it was. Summer was hell, especially in Aoyama. At least if felt like that. Shibuya didn’t feel as hot as Aoyama did. Maybe that was just a matter of perception, though. Speaking of Shibuya, she was tempted to head out there to spend some time in one of the air conditioned diners, but she didn’t even want to think about the trains.</p>
<p>She shivered. Just the thought of the trains in this heat made her feel like she needed a shower. Starting back to her office, she noticed a group of teens turning a corner. And, to her surprise, she noticed her little Guinea Pig was leading the pack. Curiosity getting the better of her she decided to follow them. She doubted they could have any Phantom Thieves work out here.</p>
<p>Thinking about it, she realized she didn’t know a single thing about what actually went into his “side job”. He’d deftly avoided the topic any time she so much as hinted at it. She wasn’t sure how comfortable she was with her boyfriend being so good at hiding things from her. She watched them walk down to the house at the end of the alley and stop to talk. She was too far to hear them, but she knew how to get closer without being see.</p>
<p>Walking to the next block, she sped walked to the street and came around the corner, stopping just withing earshot of them.</p>
<p>“Why haven’t we gone in yet?” The blonde girl said. Ann, she remembered her name was.</p>
<p>“I want to enjoy the breeze for a little bit longer.” That must be Ryuji.</p>
<p>“But it’s hot out here and there’s barely a breeze.”</p>
<p>“It’s better than how hot it’ll be when we go in.”</p>
<p>“He’s right. I’d like to enjoy the breeze for a little longer.” And that was her Guinea Pig.</p>
<p>“I’m quite looking forward to the view again. It was quite splendid last time.” Yusuke said. He was the only one who would say something like that. Akira described him as quite the oddity.</p>
<p>“If you look down my shirt again, I’ll throttle you.” Ann said harshly.</p>
<p>“While your beauty is a sight to behold, I meant the Pyramid.” Yusuke said.</p>
<p>“I-uh…”</p>
<p>“Besides, I was staring at Makoto last time.”</p>
<p>“You just had to ruin it.” Makoto sighed.</p>
<p>Meow.</p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah, we’re going now.”</p>
<p>Beginning Navigation.</p>
<p>Tae felt a pulse wash over her. She grabbed her head as a second hit, then a third. Then the heat was unbearable. It shouldn’t have gotten so much hotter in just a few seconds. She opened her eyes to see nothing but sand for what seemed like miles. There was a shining pyramid that looked close enough to walk, but that still left the question:</p>
<p>“Where the fuck am I?” She nearly shouted.</p>
<p>———</p>
<p>“Finally, Civilization.” Tae sighed, as she walked onto the stone pathway surrounding the Pyramid. The stones were hot enough that they burned her feet, but she’d been walking so long on the hot sand she barely noticed. She had to take off her heels almost immediately after she started walking, strapping them to her belt. They were too good a pair of heels to break walking in the sand or abandon. And her little Guinea Pig just couldn’t keep himself from staring at her legs when she wore them. That little tidbit helped her decision making.</p>
<p>Looking around, she still couldn’t believe she was in the middle of a desert, she found a set of long stairs that seemed to lead inside. Forcing her way up the far, far too long set of stairs she struggled into through the large stone door. Immediate relief washed over her as she felt cold air on her skin.</p>
<p>“Oh, finally!” She smiled. She took a seat on the floor and managed to get a good look around. There were more stairs, ugh, and two detailed stone sarcophagi. Her stomach rumbled and she groaned.</p>
<p>“That’s right, I completely forgot about lunch in all this mess.” Tae searched her pockets, hoping more than expecting any food. She found a fried chicken patty. “Huh. Forgot about you. Well, glad to have it.” She said dryly as she tore open the bright yellow packaging and took a bite.</p>
<p>Twenty minutes later she stood up with a stretch. She finally felt good enough to try to figure out where she was. Walking up the set of stairs on the sides of sarcophagi she was met with a pit of sand and no real way to cross it. There were platforms along the wall, but they were a bit too far for her to feel comfortable jumping. Looking across the sand pit she saw an even longer set of stairs with a weird door blocking the rest of the path. The door itself was covered in glowing hieroglyphs from what she could tell at her distance. She wasn’t sure what would happen if she stayed here, but she was worried about what would happen if she kept going.</p>
<p>“Well, only way out is through.” She sighed, walking over to the wall platforms. She couldn’t just sit here forever. Obviously her little Guinea Pig was in here doing… something, and she would figure out what it was. Or at least hoped she’d be able to find him. She eyed the broken platforms she only now realized were pillars sticking up from the sand. The distance was a bit far, and the platforms were a bit tight, but…</p>
<p>Tae took a deep breath and ran forward, jumping across the three gaps like a sprint. She slowed down enough that she didn’t bounce off the wall on the other side. She jumped the last gap and looked up the large corridor.</p>
<p>“I never want to see another set of stairs after this. But at least its good exercise. I was starting to get a little pudgy.”</p>
<p>It took her ten minutes to climb all the stairs to the door and another 5 to catch her breath. Once she was ready to move again she looked around. One door was… hazy, like it wasn’t really there. A mirage, she found her missing word. The door looked like a mirage. The other, however, looked like a regular door. It was that way she went.</p>
<p>———</p>
<p>“I hate this place.” Tae sighed. She’d been walking around for who even knew how long at this point and barely knew where she was going. And why was this place so broken apart?! Why did she have to jump across platforms and climb up walls just to get anywhere?!</p>
<p>A loud banging from deeper in broke her thoughts. She followed the sound, curious as to what is was and why it seemed to shake everything. More walking, more climbing, more jumping, more breaks. She was way more out of shape than she thought. Or this place was just brutal. Both. It was a mix of both. At least it was air cooled and nice to look at. The large blocks of what she could only assume to be a type of limestone had these odd inscriptions on them and occasionally flashed a blue color, almost like they were made of computer parts. Honestly, this place was better than Egypt simply for the fact that it wasn’t scorching hot.</p>
<p>Feeling ready to move on she stood, only to wince. She dropped back down and looked at her feet. They were red and torn from walking on hard stone barefoot, and dry from all the sand. She whined as she gently massaged them. She forced herself up and pushed forward.</p>
<p>She finally found the source of the shaking. Impossibly large boulders, probably the size of a small building, were stacked up along a ramp and down what she assumed used to be a hole. If there was a walkway there before, there wasn’t now. Which meant she’d have to climb atop the boulders to keep going.</p>
<p>“I really, really hate this place.” She sighed, steadying herself as she jumped onto the first boulder.</p>
<p>————</p>
<p>“This place is crazy.” Skull said.</p>
<p>“Indeed.” Agreed Fox. “The architecture is quite eccentric.”</p>
<p>“That’s not what I meant, man.”</p>
<p>“Hey, are we almost done for the day, Joker? I’m feeling a bit tired.” Panther whined.</p>
<p>Joker tossed her some chocolate he had with him.</p>
<p>“I think we’re almost done with this section. We’ll head back after getting the new safe room.”</p>
<p>“Okay!” She said, mood significantly boosted from free chocolate.</p>
<p>“Hey, I’ve been feeling something weird in the Palace for a while now, but I don’t know what it is.” Morgana said.</p>
<p>“Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” Makoto asked.</p>
<p>“It was faint before, but I feel it coming from the direction we’re about to go.”</p>
<p>“So whatever it is caught up with and passed us by.” Fox said.</p>
<p>“You think it’s that black masked guy Madarame and Kaneshiro mentioned?” Ann asked.</p>
<p>“It’ doesn’t feel like a Persona User… We should be cautious as we approach it—.”</p>
<p>A shriek of terror filled the halls and the group perked up, expecting an attack.</p>
<p>“Mona, do you—.” Makoto started.</p>
<p>“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?! STAY AWAY FROM ME!”</p>
<p>“Wait. I recognize that voice.” Mona said.</p>
<p>“Joker—,” Skull started</p>
<p>Their leader was already moving, sprinting across the boulders to find out if that was truly who he thought it was.</p>
<p>————</p>
<p>This day had taken a really sharp and sudden left turn around lunch, and Tae was not happy about it. First she gets sucked into some weird desert, then she had to walk for a whole half an hour in the sand and scorching heat, then the stairs, don’t get her started on all the fucking stairs. She wasn’t going to be doing anything more strenuous than eating for the next two weeks if she made it out of this alive. And that was the problem at hand. She’d jumped across all those boulders to keep exploring and ended up being chased by… she didn’t even know what.</p>
<p>They started off looking like gangly Mummies wrapped in loose cloth. Then one of them spotted her and it suddenly exploded into three monstrosities. The first was a weird blue chicken with a lions head, and the other two were pale blue men with spears and shields, except they were snakes from the waist down! Of course, like any sensible person, she took off running full sprint away from these things. Much to her luck, there were more of them up ahead. She passed another two Mummies before her feet hurt too much to keep running and her legs gave out.</p>
<p>She was backed into a corner, her feet bleeding from running around with no shoes is this harsh environment, and surrounded by monsters. Three of those snake men with spears, two of the lion-chickens, two shirtless snake women, and… Was that Anubis?!</p>
<p>“Get away from me!” She shouted, pulling herself tighter into her corner. She felt like crying, she was terrified out of her mind. But she was stronger than that. No way she’d let herself cry in front of enemies. That’s certainly not how Akira would go out. “I said stay back, you monsters!” She unclipped one of her heels and tossed it as hard as she could. She choked back a sob as it bounced harmlessly off Anubis’ head. If anything it only seemed more ready to eat her.</p>
<p>As they closed around her, she steeled herself. If this was how she was going to die, so be it. She’d accomplished her life’s work already and that was enough. Sure, she’d regret somethings, like leaving Akira behind, but he’d get over her. He was strong like that. The one thing she refused to do, however, was close her eyes in the face of death. If they were going to kill her, she’d be defiant to the end. It was this fact that allowed her to catch what happened next.</p>
<p>As the creatures reared back to strike, a figure landed in front of her. All she could see was a black trench coat and red gloved. She heard the figure grunt in pain. He’d taken the attack for her. Then, calm as can be, as if he hadn’t just taken several spears and claws to the chest, the figure drew is gun and fired on the lion-chicken. His attack was relentless. He fired into the first until it exploded into black mist and the second until the gun clicked and even several times after that.<br/>“Alice!” Akira(?) Called. “Die for me!” A little girl in a blue dress with knee length blonde hair appeared behind him. She held up her hand and a black orb formed before she threw her hand forward. Several of the monsters just… They just exploded. That left the snake women and the Anubis. They seemed cocky, but didn’t make an immediate move on them. Akira(?) pulled out a bottle she recognized. It was the medicine she sold him. He popped the bottle open and downed the liquid inside.</p>
<p>She felt terror flood her system as he breathed a sigh of relief.</p>
<p>“Joker, dude, what happened?!” Ryuji shouted as he caught up with them.</p>
<p>“You just—, oh.” Ann stopped as she looked at the scene.</p>
<p>“Megidolaon!” The same little girl appeared beside him and a bright white orb exploded from the ground. When she opened her eyes again, it was just them. Except now Akira was facing her.</p>
<p>“Akira?”</p>
<p>“Are you okay?” He asked, worry clear in his voice and face. She knew he could worry about her, but it never showed this much on his face.</p>
<p>“I’ve been better.” She joked.</p>
<p>“We heard you scream from farther back.” Makoto explained.</p>
<p>“The second Joker heard your voice he was off in this direction like a bullet.” Fox continued.</p>
<p>“When I saw the blood… I’m glad you’re okay, Tae.”</p>
<p>“So, uh, what’s the deal here?” Ryuji asked.</p>
<p>“Akira here’s my boyfriend.” Tae said.</p>
<p>“Damn~, dude! You’re dating Dr. Legs? Nice!” This was immediately followed by an “Ow!” As Ann hit him in the back of the head.</p>
<p>“What’s with the outfits? And the code names?” Tae asked.</p>
<p>“I’ll explain later.” Akira said. “Mona, can you heal her?”</p>
<p>“On it, Joker!”</p>
<p>Was that a cat? A talking Cat? Well, she’d seen weirder today. With a save and some green mist her feet immediately felt better.</p>
<p>“I’ll carry you.”</p>
<p>“I can walk.”</p>
<p>“You don’t get a choice.”</p>
<p>“You know, I actually kind of like when you’re dominant like that.”</p>
<p>“Guess I’ll have to do it more often then.”</p>
<p>“Get a room, you two.” Ryuji gagged.</p>
<p>————</p>
<p>“That sounds like bullshit.” Tae said as they sat in the safe room.</p>
<p>“I mean, you’re here and were just attacked by Shadows.” Akira shrugged.</p>
<p>“I mean, still.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I’ve been doing this for months now and it still doesn’t make total sense to me.” Ann said.</p>
<p>“It’s tough to wrap my head around.”</p>
<p>“You’re a smart lady. You’ll get it eventually.” Mona said.</p>
<p>“That, though, is the biggest change.” She said, pointing to the cat.</p>
<p>“You’ll be able to hear him speak in the real world now too, by the way.” Akira said.</p>
<p>“Oh, goody.”</p>
<p>“You’ll get along. He’s almost as sassy as you are.”</p>
<p>“I doubt that.”</p>
<p>“Please cool it with the flirting. You’ll make me jealous.” Ann said.</p>
<p>“Fine, fine. We can do plenty more later.” Tae smiled devilishly.</p>
<p>Several of them groaned.</p>
<p>“So are we done for the day, Joker?” Makoto asked.</p>
<p>“Yeah, we are. But we’re coming back tomorrow.”</p>
<p>“Aww….”</p>
<p>“No whining.”</p>
<p>“Finally.” Tae stood up. “I can’t wait to get out of this Gods forsaken hell hole.”</p>
<p>“Uh-uh. I’m still carrying you.”</p>
<p>The two stared at one another for a long few seconds.</p>
<p>“Fine. But that means I get to play with your hair.”</p>
<p>“Deal.”</p>
<p>————</p>
<p>“It’s so good to be back in reality!” Tae said happily. Akira still insisted on carrying her. It had taken all her fight to not let him carry her like a princess.</p>
<p>“You guys take Morgana back to Leblanc. I’ll be there in a few and I’ll make us some drinks before you guys have to leave.”</p>
<p>“Best leader ever!” Ann cheered, taking the Mona-bag.</p>
<p>“So your friends seem nice.” She said once they were finally alone.</p>
<p>“They are. I like hanging out with them.”</p>
<p>“You better not starting neglecting me. There is no ‘bros over hoes’ in this relationship.”</p>
<p>“You’re certainly no ho.”</p>
<p>“Damn right I’m not.” The conversation lulled for a bit as they made their way to the clinic. “Hey, is it always that dangerous when you take missions?”</p>
<p>“More or less.” She did not like how casual he sounded about that. “Why?”</p>
<p>“I didn’t like seeing you get hurt like that. And those things, Shadows… It’s hard to believe something like those exist. Which reminds me.” She smacked him several times across the head.</p>
<p>“Ow! What the hell?! What was that for?”</p>
<p>“Are you mad? Do you idiots always just down whole bottles of the meds I sell you? That’s dangerous! You could die from that! It’s not meant to be taken at such a high dosage!”</p>
<p>“Okay! Sorry. I’ll make sure we take smaller doses.”</p>
<p>“Make sure you don’t get hurt! I was wondering about all your scars, now I know. If you come back to me dead, I’ll find a way to revive you just to kill you myself.”<br/>“Okay, okay.” He said. She could hear his smile.</p>
<p>The walked up the steps of the clinic and he put her down gently.</p>
<p>“I really appreciate you saving me today. Real manly.”</p>
<p>“I’m the manliest of men.” He put on a cheesy smile and flexed.</p>
<p>“I’m being serious. I was about to die and all I could think about was how you would act. You give me a lot more strength than I realized.”</p>
<p>Akira was silent for a moment, looking into her eyes.</p>
<p>“You know that Persona you saw me use today? Alice?”</p>
<p>“Yeah? What about it?”</p>
<p>“That’s the strength you give me. I was only able to call upon that power because I’m with you. You have no idea how many times it’s saved my life.”</p>
<p>“I guess that means you rely on me more than I thought.”</p>
<p>“I like that I give you the strength to face your fears head on, Tae. It’s the same for me. When I get into a situation that feels overwhelming, I think of you. I think about the devious smiles you give when you’re up to something. I think about how you blush when you don’t expect me to say something smooth. I think about—.”<br/>“My legs?” She said, trying to take a bit of control back. He was going to have her face lit up like a Christmas light at this rate.</p>
<p>“That too, Dr. Legs.” He smiled. “My point is, as much strength as I give you, you give me more. Every time I end up in a situation where I could die, I think of you. I think ‘I have to get home, just to see her face’.”</p>
<p>She pulled him into a deep kiss.</p>
<p>“You’re so cheesy.” She smiled. “Oh, and we need to have a long talk about how good you are at hiding things from me.” He looked away from her. Apparently it was going to be longer than she thought. “Tomorrow. I’m tired and could use some good rest. I love you.”</p>
<p>“I love you too.” He smiled, kissing her again before taking off for Leblanc.</p>
<p>“That boy will be the death of me, I swear.” Yet she could wipe the pleased smile off her face.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Fortune's Fear</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chihaya’s morning ritual was standard. Wake up, shower, brush her teeth, eat a bowl of cereal (despite having the time for a full breakfast, she just preferred cereal), and check her fortune. It was just a quick four or five card reading, nothing in depth, that gave her an idea of what to expect throughout the day. She’d also added Akira to this ritual. She liked to know what he might be getting up to.</p>
<p>She told herself this absolutely was not the Fortune Teller version of stalking her boyfriend.</p>
<p>It was just a quick shuffle, cut, and draw. It got her ready for the day.</p>
<p>Her cards usually didn’t change for days at a time, which was a small comfort. Knowing she would have to face something worrisome during the day made her jumpy. It was probably why Akira recommended she stopped. That certainly wasn’t happening.</p>
<p>Akira’s cards though… His jumped around like the beat from the music at the clubs near her stand. Some days he’d be facing intense hardships and others he’d just have average days. Sometimes he even came into wells of fortune. She wondered what he was doing those days.</p>
<p>Recently, however, his cards had become more and more scary to her. Even this morning, after her own reading, he got the same cards he’d been getting before.<br/>The Fool. Obviously, this was Akira himself. She figured that out around the time she met him.</p>
<p>The Lovers. While this card did symbolize relationships, it could also mean the person was at a crossroads.</p>
<p>Death. Not particularly worrying. People often took it literally, but it simply meant change or ending. In this case, whatever path he took meant a serious change to his situation.</p>
<p>The Moon. This card worried her slightly. It meant he was uncertain and worried about this particular crossroad.</p>
<p>The Hanged Man. This card could mean a few things, such as an inability to help ones self. One of the common meanings, and what she saw in this case, was that whatever decision he was making was sacrificial. The question was: why? What was he up to that required self sacrifice?</p>
<p>Justice, in reverse. This card was out of place in this spread. Justice meant one got what they deserved, whether good or bad, as a result of past actions. Reversed, it meant the person would be treated unfairly no matter what. That didn’t make sense here. Unless it represented another person…</p>
<p>Chihaya reached for another card, but stopped herself. She’d already drawn one more card than she meant to. Anymore would be invasive. Besides, this was only supposed to give her an idea of what he was going to be facing in the coming days. The problem with that was he seemed to be facing something serious that he wouldn’t be able to completely avoid. He had to make an uncertain choice that was going to get him hurt. Her fingers twitched over the top of the deck. She already knew far more than he probably wanted to. At this point she’d realized whatever was going on was Phantom Thieves related, and he never liked talking about his work. He told her it was dangerous when she asked, but nothing more. This spread of cards obviously meant something was going really, really wrong with that part of his life.</p>
<p>Thinking about it, The Phantom Thieves had reached a peak of popularity during summer only for that to crash into the ground in early October. Maybe that was related to this. If it was, she certainly wanted to know what he was getting himself into.</p>
<p>“Just one more card.” She whispered to herself. Steeling her nerves, she drew another card.</p>
<p>The Tower. This was the most dreaded card in the deck. The one that meant what people thought death did. The Tower represented ruin and destruction. Why would Justice bring him to Ruin? It didn’t make sense.</p>
<p>Looking over the cards again she reread the story they told. Akira was uncertain about a turning point that required him to make a major sacrifice that would lead to a major change and someone represented by the Justice card would see to his… Death. Someone was trying to kill her Akira. She clenched her fists tight in both worry and anger. She trusted him to overcome this situation, just as he’d overcome every one before it, but this was a step beyond. Someone was actively trying to kill him or at least get him killed and she couldn’t just sit by and let him go through this alone if she could help it.</p>
<p>Her mind made up, all that was left to do was wait.</p>
<p>————</p>
<p>Waiting had been hell. She’d decided she wasn’t going to be working and dedicated her time for the day to other things like cleaning her apartment and running errands. The problem was she couldn’t focus on any of that. She’d start, only to get lost in her own head thinking about Akira. Not that getting lost thinking about him was a new experience, just that the emotions tied to it were different. It was the first time she’d gotten stuck thinking about how worried she was for him. So when she finally saw it was time for him to be out of school, she was overjoyed.</p>
<p>C: Where are you right now?</p>
<p>A: I'm with my friends. Is something wrong? I don't remember us making plans today.</p>
<p>C: Nothing's wrong. And that's not what I asked.</p>
<p>C: Where are you?</p>
<p>A: I can't really hang out right now babe.</p>
<p>A: I'm kind of busy today.</p>
<p>C: Answer the question. Where are you?</p>
<p>A: You're being really aggressive today.</p>
<p>A: I kinda like it.</p>
<p>C: We can talk about your kinks later.</p>
<p>C: Just answer my question.</p>
<p>A: Jeez, okay. We're on our way to the courthouse. We're sitting in on a trial for a bit.</p>
<p>C: The one in Chiyoda? Near the Diet Building?</p>
<p>A: Yes. Why? You still haven't told me what's up.</p>
<p>C: I'll meet you there.</p>
<p>A: Wait.</p>
<p>A: No.</p>
<p>A: Babe, seriously, no.</p>
<p>A: Seriously. Don't come to the court house.</p>
<p>A: I'm serious, you can't come.</p>
<p>A: Chihaya?</p>
<p>She’d stopped paying attention to her phone and was getting dressed, but she heard it buzz every few seconds. He was probably on the train already, meaning he had a head start on her. If she wanted to make it and not miss him she’d have to leave immediately. After slipping into a pair of jeans and a band shirt and jacket she was out the door.</p>
<p>————</p>
<p>“What’s the deal, man?” Ryuji asked, looking at Akira stare at his phone.</p>
<p>“I… I’m confused.”</p>
<p>“What happened?” Haru asked.</p>
<p>“My girlfriend is meeting us there apparently.”</p>
<p>“You have a girlfriend?” Yusuke asked.</p>
<p>“That’s not the point here.”</p>
<p>“How long have you been dating? Why didn’t you tell us?” Ann asked.</p>
<p>“We could have thrown you guys a party!” Futaba said.</p>
<p>“Who would you even be dating? We’re the only ones you hang out with at school.” Makoto said.</p>
<p>“First of all, don’t do that. Secondly, she’s older. I met her in Shinjuku.”</p>
<p>“You’re not dating a hostess are you? I’ll smack you like I did Eiko if I have to.”</p>
<p>“No! No, I’m not, don’t hit me.”</p>
<p>“Who’s Eiko?” Ryuji asked.</p>
<p>“Makoto’s friend who ended up dating a Host and getting scammed. Makoto smacked her so hard I saw the spit fly out her mouth. If her hair was colored her highlights would have gone too.”</p>
<p>Ryuji snorted trying to hold back his laughter.</p>
<p>“I-I didn’t hit her that hard.”</p>
<p>“Your fists might as well be deadly weapons. But again, that’s not the point.”</p>
<p>“She’s meeting up with us, but we have a mission to do.” Haru said.</p>
<p>“Exactly. Plus Akechi will be with us…”</p>
<p>“Right…” They were all quiet at that.</p>
<p>“What do we do?” Ann asked.</p>
<p>“I might have an idea of what she wants, but we’ll play it by ear until I’m sure.”</p>
<p>“Okay then.”</p>
<p>—————</p>
<p>Chihaya met Akira and his friends out in front of the courthouse. She looked over the odd mash up of students with a raised eyebrow.</p>
<p>“Wait a second,” She realized, “Aren’t you that detective prince from TV?” She asked.</p>
<p>“Ah, indeed. Goro Akechi at your service.” The brunette boy bowed slightly.</p>
<p>“Wow, I didn’t know you knew someone like him.” She said.</p>
<p>“We hang out sometimes.” Akira said. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”</p>
<p>“I came to see you.”</p>
<p>“I mean, I know, but why?”</p>
<p>“I… I’m worried about you and I want to make sure you’ll be safe.”</p>
<p>“Huh?”</p>
<p>“You heard me. I was worried about you. You told me what you did was dangerous and I want to know how dangerous.” It was only partially a lie. While she was definitely interested in getting to know the finer sides of Phantom Thievery, she was more interested in knowing what the deal with his fortune was.</p>
<p>“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”</p>
<p>“I’m coming with you.”</p>
<p>“What’s up with the aggression today? It’s kinda hot.”</p>
<p>Her face red, both in anger and embarrassment, Chihaya stomped her foot on the ground.</p>
<p>“Yer’ not gettin’ rid’ a me that easy mister! I came all this way to make sure you were safe and I’m not leaving till you take me with y’all on whatever it is y’all’re doing! So stop yer’ stallin’ and let’s get this show on the road ‘fore I show you how aggressive I can really be!”</p>
<p>The group was silent at her outburst, some of the teens even staring at her with wide eyes. She started to apologize for her outburst but closed her mouth when the others started talking.</p>
<p>“Damn~, dude.” The blond boy said.</p>
<p>“Well, I guess she’s coming with us.” The brunette girl said.</p>
<p>“You can’t be serious.” Akira replied, still slightly stunned at being on the receiving end of that outburst.</p>
<p>“We are on a time limit here, Akira. I believe it would be best to simply take her with us. If we come across something too dangerous we can have someone watch her in a safe room.” Akechi suggested.</p>
<p>Akira was silent. For a moment she was worried he’d simply tell her to leave and that would be it. Instead, he sighed and pulled out his phone.</p>
<p>“Fine. Haru, you’re watching her when I can’t.”</p>
<p>“Yes, sir!” The peach haired girl in the pick jacket saluted.</p>
<p>“You might want to grab my arm.” Akira said.</p>
<p>“Why—.”</p>
<p>Beginning Navigation.</p>
<p>Chihaya felt a pulse wash over her and immediately grabbed Akira’s arm as several more hit.</p>
<p>The next thing she knew they were standing in front of a large casino where the courthouse should be.</p>
<p>“What in tarnation?” She asked softly to herself.</p>
<p>“Hope you like gambling, babe. Because you just took a big one.”</p>
<p>“You better hope it pays off.” She looked around for the voice and found a weird cat thing. She covered her mouth as she screamed.</p>
<p>“That’s just Morgana. He looks like that in the Metaverse.”</p>
<p>“That thing is yer’ cat?”</p>
<p>“I’m not a thing!” Morgana protested.</p>
<p>“I’ll explain later. For now, we’ve got some things to take care of.” Akira said. “Stick close.”</p>
<p>“Right.”</p>
<p>———</p>
<p>Chihaya sat in the rather lavish room accompanied by her bodyguard Noir, she preferred to call her by her name but was told to only call them by their code names inside the palace, and the orange haired girl named Oracle. The room was rather quiet save for Noir’s soft humming and the clicking of Oracles keyboard. She was confused about why Oracle could use technology in this place but she couldn’t. The answer was “Cause of her Persona”. Then that led to a long winded conversation about what Persona where and how the Metaverse worked, all of which went over her head.</p>
<p>“Excuse me.” Chihaya looked up at the sound of the soft voice of Noir.</p>
<p>“Yes?”</p>
<p>“I was wondering, how did you and Joker meet?”</p>
<p>“Oh, I want to know about you guys too!” Oracle popped up.</p>
<p>“Uh, well… I’m not too proud of it.” Chihaya looked down.</p>
<p>“Did something happen?” Noir asked.</p>
<p>“I… Kind of scammed him.”</p>
<p>“Oh.”</p>
<p>“For a hundred thousand yen.”</p>
<p>“Holy shit!” Oracle shouted.</p>
<p>“Yeah…”</p>
<p>“Well, you seem to have made up.” Noir said.</p>
<p>“Akira showed me that fate can be changed if you take it into your own hands.” Chihaya explained.</p>
<p>“Yeah, Joker has a way of making people want to stand up for themselves. And you should call him Joker while in here.” Oracle said.</p>
<p>“Right. Sorry.”</p>
<p>“It’s fine. So… You two fucked yet?”</p>
<p>“Oracle!” Noir shouted.</p>
<p>“What? I basically grew up on the internet, I know about sex.”</p>
<p>“That doesn’t mean you can just ask someone outright like that!”</p>
<p>“I-It’s okay… I’m not… I’m not upset.”</p>
<p>“Still…” Noir trailed off.</p>
<p>“You two seem awfully interested in our relationship.” Chihaya said.</p>
<p>“It’s more that we’re interested in Joker.” Oracle said.</p>
<p>“Huh?”</p>
<p>“Don’t act so surprised. You’re dating him. You should know how hot he is.”</p>
<p>“Indeed. Joker is certainly… attractive.” Noir said.</p>
<p>“Y’all can’t have him!” Chihaya shouted as she stood up.</p>
<p>The two teens laughed her off.</p>
<p>“Cool your jets, Mystic Maya. We’re not going to take your man. I can’t. He sees me like a little sister.” Oracle smirked.</p>
<p>“I haven’t had the opportunity to ask him yet, and since I know he already has a girlfriend, well, I lost my chance before I even met him.” Noir giggled.</p>
<p>“Huh…”</p>
<p>“So you feeling better?” Oracle asked.</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“You were quite tense.” Noir said. “Everyone is scared the first time they see a Shadow. Even Joker admits he was terrified. Skull was almost killed. For people with no ability to fight back like we can, that fear must be crippling.”</p>
<p>Now that they mentioned it, she did feel a little less tense. She remembered the first time they encountered an enemy on the way here. Every muscle in her body squeezed tight and she felt the need to run as far as she could. Even with Akira holding her close as he and his friends tore through the monsters, she never quite relaxed.</p>
<p>“Joker is strong. The strongest of us all. He’ll protect you. And if he can’t, we’ll have you until he can.”</p>
<p>“Thank you.”</p>
<p>“Anything to help.” Oracle smiled.</p>
<p>“Oh, before I forget, do you two know anything about him making a sacrifice?”</p>
<p>The two girls went silent, a tense conversation passed between them silently.</p>
<p>“No one told me. I just kind of figured it out. He did mention that I’m very good at my job, didn’t he?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but not that good.” Oracle said.</p>
<p>“How much do you know?” Noir asked.</p>
<p>“Not a lot. Just what the cards tell me. He’s at a crossroad that requires a sacrifice and he feels uncertain about it. And that someone is trying to kill him.”</p>
<p>“I see…”</p>
<p>“How did you figure that out?”</p>
<p>“Tarot cards tell a story. No matter what way they get laid out, I can read that story. When I read A-Joker’s fortune, I see one that leads towards ruin. Justice brings destruction.”</p>
<p>“That’s quite scary.” Noir said.</p>
<p>“Yeah. I never really believed in fortune telling or superstitious stuff like that, but the fact she was able to figure everything out from some cards… That’s pretty scary.”</p>
<p>Chihaya went to speak again, but was interrupted.</p>
<p>“Finally back!” Skull shouted, practically kicking in the door to the safe room.</p>
<p>“That sucked.” Panther whined.</p>
<p>“Being in the dark for so long made coming back into the casino proper hurt my eyes.” Fox said.</p>
<p>“Don’t be such babies.” Queen said. “We’ve got enough coins to do the battle arena now, so we’ll head over there after a quick break.”</p>
<p>————</p>
<p>“WHAT?! Chihaya shouted. When they entered the battle arena, they were told only one of them could participate. She figured they’d do something like Rock-Paper-Scissors to pick, but Akechi just threw Akira to the wolves. Basically literally!</p>
<p>“I’m the most sensible choice for this, babe. I’m going.”</p>
<p>“But you could get hurt!”</p>
<p>“That’s a risk that comes with the job.”</p>
<p>“Joker.”</p>
<p>“Hey, you said it!” He gave her a smile.</p>
<p>“This isn’t the time for games!”</p>
<p>“I’m serious. It won’t be anything I can’t handle. I’ll be okay.” He shot her his confidant smile and she felt most of her apprehension fade away.</p>
<p>“Well at least let me give you some motivation.” She pulled him close and gave him a long kiss. “There’ll be more where that came from if you come back.”</p>
<p>“Yes, ma’am.” He said with a goofy grin.</p>
<p>Akira stepped into the hallway to the arena with confidence.</p>
<p>“They’re definitely fucking.”</p>
<p>“ORACLE!” Noir, Panther, and Queen shouted while Skull cackled behind them.</p>
<p>———</p>
<p>Chihaya took a seat between Noir and Queen, apparently the two most likely to murder anything that so much as looked at her wrong. She was nervous about this fight. More nervous than she’d ever been in her life about anything. The last thing she wanted to see was her boyfriend die. Especially in a place where they wouldn’t even be able to get his body back.</p>
<p>‘Bad thoughts.’</p>
<p>She slapped her face and tried to push down the fear as she watched his figure stand tall and proud in the middle of the arena.</p>
<p>“Welcome ladies and gentleman! We’re now going to get started with the arena fights. First up, the leader of the Phantom Thieves! Let’s get started!” The announcer said over the loud speaker.</p>
<p>Two large elephant shadows appeared in the arena with him and immediately they knew what was up.</p>
<p>“Hey, what the fuck?!” She shouted.</p>
<p>“Yeah! You assholes said one on one fights!”</p>
<p>“Well, we are only trying to make it fair! This is a powerful person we’re having fight here!”</p>
<p>Akira didn’t seem to be bothered. As soon as the horn blared to start he reached for his mask.</p>
<p>“Kaiwan!” A large black star with the head of a person appeared behind him. “Mapsiodyne!” Orbs of flashing purple spun around the two large elephant monsters before slamming into their heads. The two beasts fell to the ground and she watched as he walked up to them far too casually and pulled a black gun with wings and red lights near the barrel making it look like a face.. He pulled the trigger and put two bullets through the head off the first. The second had recovered by then, but it didn’t matter. Akira, no, Joker, knee capped it causing it to fall back to the ground. It roared in pain as he put a foot on its chest and pulled the trigger twice more, causing it to burst into black dust like its partner.</p>
<p>Chihaya was equal parts horrified and aroused by the casual display of violence. She didn’t think Akira could be capable of such a thing. But she realized he’d been at this job for nearly eight months. He must have had everything down to a science by now. He knew there was no room for mercy in a fight like this. She found this more aggressive side of him hot, but it scared her how easily it came to him.</p>
<p>“Well,” The musing of the announcer knocked her out of her thoughts, “It seems the Phantom Thieves have won this round. But you still have two more to go! Let’s see how you handle this!”</p>
<p>Three floating red monsters with foot long nails and wild black hair appeared in the arena.</p>
<p>“Three! What the hell?!” Skull shouted.</p>
<p>Akira wasted no time in his executing his plan.</p>
<p>“Odin!” A tall figure with purple skin dressed in a toga with a spear and golden horned helmet appeared. “Wild Thunder!”</p>
<p>Pillars of yellow lightning appeared around the creatures, before converging on them in a brilliant bright flash. Two of them went down, the other managed to dodge the attack. Joker took off, rushing right for it.</p>
<p>“What is he doing?! Why doesn’t he shoot it?” Chihaya asked.</p>
<p>“Those are called Rangda. They repel bullets and physical attacks. Joker has a plan, though, so no need to worry.” Akechi-Crow, said.</p>
<p>Indeed he had a plan. He slid under the monsters claws as it took a swipe at him and pulled a small coil of wire from his jacket. He stuck it to the things forehead and watched as it was electrocuted. Joker calmly picked it up by its hair and tossed it into the pile with the rest before calling for his Persona again.</p>
<p>“Wild Thunder!” He shouted. Again, the pillars appeared. This time, there was nothing left after the flash of lightning hit.</p>
<p>She watched with a satisfied smirk as Akira stood proud and smug in the center of the arena.</p>
<p>“Woo! That’s my man!” Chihaya shouted.<br/>“Gr, Fine! Since someone can’t take a hint that we want him dead, let’s see you deal with this!”</p>
<p>The announcer sounded quite upset, but she was confident he could take out any threat they threw at him. Until she saw what this one was.</p>
<p>“Is that Thor?”</p>
<p>“Yup. That’s a Thor, alright.” Skull said.</p>
<p>“He’s quite the tough shadow. Nothing our leader can’t handle, though.” Crow assured her.</p>
<p>“Yeah, we’ve fought a few of them before. They might not have a weakness to exploit, but he should be able to take one out alone.” Oracle said.</p>
<p>“You better be right.” Chihaya said through gritted teeth.</p>
<p>Down in the Arena, the fight had already started. Thor had started with a severe level lightning attack, but Joker smirked. He hadn’t switched from Odin, which nulled electric attacks.</p>
<p>“Brave Blade!”</p>
<p>Odin burst forth and swung his spear and four lines shot towards Thor, hitting him, but not stopping the charge he started. Joker didn’t have time to move, getting sent flying into the wall by Thor’s fist. He bounced off the cage only to be smacked away by the hammer.</p>
<p>Chihaya gasped when he was hit and was nearly in tears the second time. She was gripping Queen tightly, but she was told the girl could handle it.</p>
<p>Joker got up, popped open a box of pills, poured some down his mouth, and he was ready to go again.</p>
<p>“Fine. If that’s how you want to play.” He said, reaching for his mask. “Lakshmi!” A pale skinned woman leaned forward as if ice skating appeared be hind him, “Sleeping!” The figure sang a note and Thor dropped to sleep in the middle of the arena. “Kaguya!” This time a figure that looked almost like a teen girl with an odd plating surrounding her appeared. “Shinning Arrows!” On his command swords made of light shot into his foe, volley after volley that seemed to go on for far too long.</p>
<p>Had it been any other enemy, she was sure it would be dead, but Thor was strong. The attack had woken him up, but he was shaky and didn’t seem to have much fight left. Still, it cast it’s lightning spell again and hit Akira, who did little more than grunt in pain. He stayed on his feet through the attack and glared at the monster. He rushed forward, pulling something from his jacket. He leaped up, avoiding the hammer, and ran up Thor’s arm. He shoved whatever he had under Thor’s mask as he flipped over him, rolling to gain some distance before sticking the landing.</p>
<p>He bowed theatrically as an explosion of white light erupted from Thor before he dissipated into black dust.</p>
<p>“Fine… I guess you win.” The announcer said bitterly.</p>
<p>—————</p>
<p>She pouted the whole way back to her house. She wasn’t really mad at him, not anymore, but she wanted to get a point across.</p>
<p>“So I guess there won’t be more?” He asked as they approached her building.</p>
<p>“Maybe. If you can answer some questions for me.”</p>
<p>“Anything.”</p>
<p>“What are you sacrificing yourself for?”</p>
<p>—————<br/>Her heart stopped when she heard the news. Even if she was in on the plan, that didn’t stop her from being worried. It didn’t stop the knife in her chest from twisting itself tighter. It didn’t make it easier to breathe when she felt like all the air had been vacuumed out of her lungs. It didn’t stop the tears from forming in her eyes at the thought that something had gone wrong. She took a moment to pull herself together before pulling out her cards.</p>
<p>It would be just like any other time she checked his fortune. Just a regular old shuffle, cut, and draw. Nothing would change. Everything would be okay.</p>
<p>That didn’t stop her hands from shaking as she shuffled the deck.</p>
<p>She drew the first card, already knowing what it was.</p>
<p>The Fool.</p>
<p>She reached for her deck, her hand shaking violently in fear of what was next. She had no control here. As much as she had been working to change her fate and do things for herself, this was a situation she couldn’t change no matter what and that made her more scared than she’d ever been in her life. Drawing in a shaky breath, she held it for a few seconds, before letting it out, just as labored in its release. She reached forward and drew the card.</p>
<p>The World.</p>
<p>She smiled, though she still shook with the fear of the prior moments. She didn’t need to draw any more cards. She knew all she needed to know.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Shooting Star</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It occurs to me I forgot to put spoiler warnings on the last chapter. This one definitely has massive end game spoilers if you haven't played the game, so keep that in mind.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hifumi considered herself a smart girl. Sure, most of her feats in Shogi turned out to be a sham, but she was still highly ranked in her class and she had the creativity and quick thinking that allowed her to formulate plans on the fly. This situation, however, was far beyond anything she was capable of comprehending. She'd just been walking through Shibuya, on her way to pick up a Christmas Cake she'd ordered to share with Akira that night, when everything went to hell. Literally. The sky turned red and red fluid that looked like blood was raining from the sky. Bones the size of skyscrapers were standing from the ground and bridges of bone like the backs of serpents stretched across the Tokyo Skyline. She had no idea what was happening, but most people seemed to not see the madness going on around them. There were a few people she could see that were just as concerned as she was, but they were few and far between.</p>
<p>She found her musings on the strange situation and her terror both interrupted by the sound of shouting.</p>
<p>"The Phantom Thieves?!"</p>
<p>That was enough to get her attention. She wouldn't say she was surprised to learn Akira had something to do with this. Walking quickly towards the direction she'd heard the chatter coming from she came across a tall wall of bone blocking her out. She noticed a gap by the street and rushed over to it in time to see the Phantom Thieves about to head up the bone walkway.</p>
<p>"Akira?" She asked, looking at his black outfit.</p>
<p>"Hifumi? You can see us? What color is the sky?"</p>
<p>"It's red."</p>
<p>"Huh."</p>
<p>She looked past him at the others in costumes and… was that a cat? Questions for later.</p>
<p>"So, these are your friends?"</p>
<p>"Yeah. We go by code names on missions. I'm Joker, these are Skull, Panther, Mona, Queen, Fox, Oracle, and Noir."</p>
<p>"I see. Very nice to meet you all." She turned towards the walkway and started walking. "Well, let's get going team."</p>
<p>"Hold on." Akira stopped her. "First of all, I'm team leader. Second of all, you aren't coming with us."</p>
<p>"Why not? This is the perfect opportunity to see the strategies I've helped you develop in action."</p>
<p>"That's not happening. It's far too dangerous for you to come with us."</p>
<p>"How dangerous could it really be? I mean, and no offense by this, you've all managed very well so far."</p>
<p>"We train and we have the ability to fight back against the types of monsters we'll be running into. You don't train and you don't have a Persona. Stay here. You'll be safe here."</p>
<p>"No. I want to go with you." She said, starting to walk again. She was turned violently to face Akira. He was holder he wrist tighter than he meant to. He'd never intentionally hurt her, she knew that, but the anger in his eyes made her look away. "You're hurting me."</p>
<p>He let go immediately.</p>
<p>"You can't come with us." He said forcefully, not quite yelling but with the same intensity. "It's far too dangerous. You could die!"</p>
<p>"Look around us, Akira! The world has literally gone to hell! You might be used to this kind of horror, but I'm not!" She shouted, her eyes tearing up as she looked at him. "I can't… I can't deal with this by myself! I need you! I need the strength and comfort you give me right now more than ever! Please, please, Akira, I'm begging you, take me with you."</p>
<p>He was silent for a few seconds and she thought he might ignore her pleading when he spoke again.</p>
<p>"Hifumi."</p>
<p>She kept her eyes pointed down.</p>
<p>"Hifumi, look at me."</p>
<p>She looked up at him and she could see the concern in his eyes. The fear just behind the anger at her stubbornness.</p>
<p>"We're going to fight a god."</p>
<p>"W-what?" She asked, taking a step back.</p>
<p>"We're going to fight a god. We fought him before and he nearly killed us all." He waved lightly to his friends. "He tried to wipe us out of existence. The pain and fear of slowly fading into nothingness, of watching my friends slowly fade away into nothingness…" He looked away from her for a few seconds before meeting her eyes again. "If we can't do this… If we're not strong enough to stop this… I don't want to see you go through that pain. I don't want that to be my fault. I couldn't… Even if it was only for a few moments before I died, I wouldn't be able to take being the one to cause you that sort of fear, that sort of soul searing pain."</p>
<p>A gentle hand rubbed his cheek. Hifumi blinked back the tears in her eyes and pulled his forehead to hers.</p>
<p>"Akira, the world is literally ending. Even if I'm in danger, there's no place I'd rather be than by your side."</p>
<p>Akira took a deep shuddering breath.</p>
<p>"Fine. You can come with us."</p>
<p>She kissed him.</p>
<p>"Thank you."</p>
<p>"You two finally done?" Skull asked.</p>
<p>"Way to ruin a sweet moment, asshole." Panther smacked him in the head.</p>
<p>"Ow, hey!"</p>
<p>"Well, now that your lovers quarrel is over, leader, we've got things to do." Queen said.</p>
<p>"Right. Noir, you're watching Hifumi. I can't afford to take a backseat on this. I'm bringing out the big guns. Everything in our way is going to die. This isn't the time for games. We can't relax until that asshole cup is dead. It's high alert all the way. You all ready?"</p>
<p>"Yes!" They said.</p>
<p>"Then let's go kill us a god."</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Hifumi found herself fascinated by the way the Phantom Thieves actually fought. They were well coordinated, targeted enemy weaknesses with ease and exploited the hell out of them with a vicious relentlessness, and generally fought very aggressively while still conserving energy and resources. Which brought up her other line of thinking as she looked at the enemies.</p>
<p>"Are these Angels?!" She asked.</p>
<p>"Yes." Akira said.</p>
<p>"I didn't even… Angels are real?"</p>
<p>"Not really." Morgana said.</p>
<p>"Queen just shot one in the face! A high level one too! Thrones are pretty high up the Angelic Hierarchy!"</p>
<p>"The thing about Shadows and the Metaverse is that these things only exist as a result of humans believing in them. It's weird things from mythology existing simply because humans believe in them. So someone comes up with a religion and it spreads far enough and enough people believe in it that it becomes a part of humanities collective unconscious. Bam, new gods born and new Shadows added to the pool." Akira explained.</p>
<p>"So Angels exist, but only because humans say they do?"</p>
<p>"Yes."</p>
<p>"This is giving me a headache."</p>
<p>"I told you it was complicated and not worth thinking too deeply about." Panther said.</p>
<p>"If you think that's bad, just wait till you see some of the more powerful Personas I can use." Joker smirked.</p>
<p>"Right." She said, half expecting it to be a joke."</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>He wasn't joking, she found with no small amount of shock. They had just finished a boss fight and she was still quite stunned. They killed and Archangel. One of the four Archangels had just been killed by a bunch of teenagers. And Akira wasn't joking when he said he was pulling out the big guns for this. He opened the fight by summoning the god of the moon Tsukuyomi himself. That was just his opening. He followed it up by calling upon Beelzebub next, and then the Whore of Babylon herself (Under the name "Mother Harlot") to finish of the dying Archangel.</p>
<p>They kept going through the intricate bone carved pathways, not necessarily tearing through enemies, but certainly making decent work of them. Until they encountered one particular enemy that made her mind stop working for a few seconds.</p>
<p>"Uh…" She said.</p>
<p>"Yeah." The Phantom Thieves spoke in unison, a low drone that creeped her out slightly.</p>
<p>"I mean… This isn't real right?"</p>
<p>"It is."</p>
<p>"But… But it's just—."</p>
<p>"Yes. A giant green dick made of tentacles riding a chariot."</p>
<p>The tone in which they all spoke stood out as one of defeated acceptance. Apparently this wasn't new to them.</p>
<p>"I-I see."</p>
<p>"You get used to it." Panther said.</p>
<p>"Unfortunately." Noir added.</p>
<p>"I've been thinking for a while, how much do you think one of these things could sell for?" Oracle asked.</p>
<p>"I'm not sure what you mean by that and I refuse to ask." Akira said.</p>
<p>"Can we just kill this thing already. I think it's leering at me." Queen whined.</p>
<p>"Let's get this over with." He agreed.</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>They sped through the areas, making quick and cautious work of the enemies they fought. With each new area completed came a new Archangel to fight. Raphael didn't prove much of a threat once Akira let loose with Kohryu and Vishnu. His powerhouse abilities coupled with his teams impeccable teamwork brought the angel to its knees in short order.</p>
<p>The area after Raphael was filled with more of those… Akira explained that it was named Mara, and it even had little slime versions of itself as she was horrified to learn. That alone almost made her regret tagging along.</p>
<p>After that they encountered the Archangel Gabriel, who was far more feminine than she was expecting. It spoke like a mother disappointed in her children, which actually sort of made her feel bad. Those feelings were crushed when she was reminded that humanities freedom was at stake. When offered mercy should they submit, Akira allowed Skull to do the honors. She was confused about what that meant until he took a deep breath , so he could "Say it with his chest", and told the Archangel to:</p>
<p>"Take your mercy, pack it up real tight, and use it to go <span><em>FUCK</em></span> yourself!"</p>
<p>That fight was a bit harder, but the team managed it after Akira used Futsunushi to pin its wings to the ground and cripple it with Yoshitsune.</p>
<p>All that was left was to get to the "Holy Grail" As they called it. Or so she thought. She'd been naive in thinking they'd only have to face 3 of the 4 major Archangels.</p>
<p>"How unexpected." The Angel's voice was warped, like more than one person was speaking at once. "To think you would slay all Archangels who arrived before me."</p>
<p>"That means you're the last one in our way, right?" Panther asked.</p>
<p>"Dare you destroy the very ruler you wished for? Humans are truly arrogant."</p>
<p>"Not everyone wishes for your so called Salvation!" Fox shouted.</p>
<p>"You wish for freedom? You desire Diversity? As long as you humans have existed you've failed to bring yourselves to peace! Now they finally desire a strong ruler and you seek to disrupt that? What justice is there in denying them their wish?!"</p>
<p>"What justice is there in granting it?!" Morgana countered.</p>
<p>"Locking people away in cages is no freedom and it is certainly no form of Justice!" Noir shouted.</p>
<p>"So you would commit any degree of sacrilege in the sake of your justice?"</p>
<p>"Yes." Akira said simply.</p>
<p>"Then you are truly beyond salvation."</p>
<p>The battle was harsh. The other battles against the Archangels had been intense, as had the ones against the lesser Shadows, but this… It truly clicked for Hifumi in this fight why he was always so grateful to learn a new tactic from her. She'd already seen him use a number of her tactics in this fight alone. It was a bloody battle. Akira himself had been impaled several times over, but kept pushing as if it was little more than a minor scratch. She realized, with a dawning horror, that he probably didn't feel the severity of the attacks he took. He'd been at this since April, and if every mission was even a fraction as intense as this, he should have died several times over.</p>
<p>"Noir!" Akira shouted.</p>
<p>Hifumi brought herself back to the battle to see Skull had paralyzed the Archangel with one of his lightning spells.</p>
<p>"Heat Riser!"</p>
<p>Red, green, and purple lights flashed around Akira before he reached for his mask. "Metatron!"</p>
<p>She gasped. He had a way of surprising her even when she thought she had reached the bottom of his bag of tricks.</p>
<p>"I-Insolent h-human!" Michael raged. "Y-You dare… You dare to-to turn lord Metatron, the v-voice of our God himself, a-against me?!"</p>
<p>"Yes." Akira said. "Blade Dance!"</p>
<p>Swords spun in the air before converging on Michael, impaling him eight times over.</p>
<p>"You… shall not…" He faded to black smoke before he could finish speaking.</p>
<p>"Alright. We're in the final stretch. Just one fight left." Akira said.</p>
<p>The air become hazy in a blue shimmer before a blue door appeared on the platform, a small girl in a blue outfit with gold hair and golder eyes stepped out.</p>
<p>"You have nearly completed your mission. Allow me to heal your wounds."</p>
<p>"Please." Akira nodded.</p>
<p>It took but a moment as the group was covered by a green and pink cloud for a second. They were all visibly more relaxed after whatever the golden eyed girl had done.</p>
<p>"Joker, we should talk strategy before we go on." Queen said.</p>
<p>"Right. We'll review what we know and figure things out from there." Akira stepped off to the side with the Brunette and his cat. The others all sat or stood around talking amongst themselves.</p>
<p>It was the blue haired boy, Fox, that approached her.</p>
<p>"You know this is your final opportunity to back out." He said.</p>
<p>She gave him a slight glare. "I'm not going anywhere."</p>
<p>"Joker really is worried about you. You might not be able to see it, but it's had an effect on his ability. You're a great motivator, but you're also a distraction, sorry to say."</p>
<p>"… Yusuke? Yusuke Kitagawa?" She asked, finding his voice and mannerisms familiar if only from the trouble he often found himself in at school. Namely asking random women to be his art models. There was also a situation with the girls swim team and some lobsters, but she didn't want to think about that.</p>
<p>He laughed lightly. "Indeed. I'm quite surprised it took you this long to figure it out."</p>
<p>"I've mostly been focused on Akira."</p>
<p>"And he on you."</p>
<p>"Listen, Yusuke—,"</p>
<p>"Joker wasn't kidding about the soul searing pain." He said darkly, looking away from her.</p>
<p>"W-what?"</p>
<p>"When he said fading from existence was 'Soul Searing', he was not exaggerating. Being an artist, the word 'indescribable' is very rarely used. That feeling, however, is something that I believe the word is best suited for. Lying on the ground in Shibuya, people literally walking over our fading bodies as we writhe in a deep pain that burns from within was easily the most terrifying situation I've ever been in. That pain is something that will be etched into my memory for the rest of my life. Even now…" He clutched his chest with a shaky hand for a few seconds. "Even now I can still feel it. It's not nearly as intense, but I can still feel the dull burn left behind. I don't know if that will ever go away."</p>
<p>"Yu-Yusuke, I…"</p>
<p>"So as I said, this is your final chance to leave. The Shadows are gone, giving you safe passage back to the station should you wish. I recommend you take it. We don't all expect to make it back alive from this and if you die… I'm not sure Joker would survive that."</p>
<p>She choked up. Her throat hurt at how tight it was and how hard she was trying to hold back a sob. She promised herself she'd be strong when she went with them. She'd be strong for Akira so he could be strong for her and they'd make it through this. Just hearing in detail how much pain they'd all been in only an hour before hurt her, and even more so she was hurt that she could be a reason for them to go through that pain again.</p>
<p>She looked over at Akira, talking with Queen and Morgana. His face was serious and he seemed determined to beat this enemy, no matter what. She was reminded of the look on his face when he told her what was going on and what they were going to fight. How scared he looked. She knew he still felt that way, but he was good at hiding his emotions. He was too good at it.</p>
<p>"No." She said. She wiped the unshed tears from her eyes and stared Yusuke down. "I'm staying. I won't let him go through this the way he is. I need to be there. To reassure him. And… And in case this doesn't go the way it should, I want to be there with him. I won't let a false smile be the last thing I see of my Akira."</p>
<p>Yusuke examined her for a few seconds before chuckling lightly.</p>
<p>"Yes, I suppose it would be like Joker to have an affinity for strong willed women. Very well then. Just know that this battle will be more intense than any you've seen so far. Should one of us get hurt or be knocked out you can't try to help. No matter how bad the injury looks. We have magic and medicine that can heal us from non fatal wounds. If you get too close you could get hurt or get in the way. We can't afford to not put our all into this fight."</p>
<p>"I understand." She nodded.</p>
<p>"I'm glad." Yusuke said. "And it seems our leader has something to say to you." He noticed Joker and Queen walking over to them.</p>
<p>"Put this on." Akira handed her a ring.</p>
<p>"A-W-what?" She blushed.</p>
<p>"I'm not proposing to you." He said seriously. "Yet."</p>
<p>"Yet?!"</p>
<p>"This ring will protect you. It buffs your defense so if a stay shot hits you it won't outright kill you."</p>
<p>"O-oh."</p>
<p>"Also take these." He said, handing her a weird orb and a white… handle? It was some kind of white pole with odd carvings etched into it.</p>
<p>"Um…"</p>
<p>"This orb nulls all attacks except almighty, and this pillar halves an damage you take, including almighty. So with these together you have approximate defenses to us with buffs."</p>
<p>"Wouldn't these be more useful to you all?" She asked. "They sound powerful. It would be better for you to use them during your battle."</p>
<p>"Nah, we've all got our own things we like to use. They've worked so far… Except when they didn't. But that's neither here nor there. The point is this will be dangerous and you are a normal human. Our Persona make us far stronger than the average person, which is why we can get set on fire and keep moving. You don't have that. I'd rather you not get hurt and this puts you in the least amount of danger possible."</p>
<p>"Fine." She sighed.</p>
<p>"Great. Let's go, team."</p>
<p>Hifumi didn't move, grabbing his arm to keep him with her. He looked back at her as her fingers locked with his. She squeezed his hand, looking at with what was sure fear on her face. He squeezed back, giving her as reassuring a look as he could. She nodded and followed after him.</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Hifumi was separated from The Phantom Thieves. The so called "god" had put a barrier between her and the others so that she would "See the futility of rebelling against God". Humanities treasure, The Holy Grail, wasn't nearly as intense a fight any of them were expecting. It was powerful, but its lack of mobility made it easier to damage. Most of them got out of the fight with little injury. Queen and Skull, who apparently acted as the tanks, as well as Noir and Morgana needed healing a few times because of their low mobility, but no one was severely injured.</p>
<p>It was after beating The Holy Grail that things went south. The prison fell to pieces around them and the Grail opened up, revealing itself to merely be the head of the skyscraper tall being. It revealed itself as Yaldabaoth, the God of Control. That fight was much more intense. Not only with the limited room to get away from his attacks, but also with the myriad of tricks it seemed to have. A gun, a sword, a book, and a bell, all meant to make fighting it harder. She wasn't quite certain of the effects they had, but she could hear the team curse with each new weapon and effect. It was luck that each one was independently targetable.</p>
<p>Akira opened the fight with Satan, of all things, and what seemed to be really powerful ice attacks. As more of the false gods weapons were revealed he brought out Lucifer. She was shocked, to say the least, that he'd be capable of using those two beings, though she shouldn't have been considering his earlier use of Metatron</p>
<p>As the fight seemed to draw to its end, the team growing more tired and fatigued, the god tried harder to take them out. It was only after they seemed on the verge of winning did it truly attack, hitting them with its strongest ability over and over until they couldn't stand. She could hear the people below lose faith, saying even The Phantom Thieves couldn't do something this grand. It frustrated her. She was wracked with worry over Akira and his friends and frustrated that they could lose faith so easily.</p>
<p>Tears flowed freely down her face as she banged on the wall that denied her access to Akira.</p>
<p>"Please get up Akira! Please! You have to stand up!" She shouted. Her voice was going hoarse and her throat was dry from screaming. She'd done a lot of that over the course of the fight.</p>
<p>"<strong>Silence human. This is simply the extent of their rebellion. Even a small bit of unexpectedness would not be enough to fell a God!</strong>"</p>
<p>Akira looked to her. His eyes so full of emotion but still so determined. He was struggling, she could tell, but he was still fighting.</p>
<p>"Shut up! You don't know anything! You're just sentient pile of gold! What do you know of humanity?! What do you know of the power it takes to strive for what you want int life?! You think just because some people want to give up their freedom that everyone should be locked away? Screw off!" Hifumi shouted. False god he may be, but he didn't get to insult her Akira.</p>
<p>"<strong>You are the one who knows nothing, human. You are tainted by these filthy thieves ideology of freedom. There is no freedom for you humans. You are all slaves to something, be they your desires or the system you've built for yourselves. I am granting you all freedom from choice. A life where you need not think for yourselves. I bring you salvation.</strong>"</p>
<p>"Fuck off!" Akira was standing now, though still hunched over in pain. "You think locking humanity away is freedom? That not having to make choices is what's best?! You're nothing more than a self righteous usurper! A tyrant! You don't bring peace, you bring slavery and servitude!"</p>
<p>"Yeah!" Skull stood. "You're no better than the bastards we've taken down so far, acting like it's your right to control others!"</p>
<p>"You're no god! You're a snake!" Panther shouted, stumbling to her feet.</p>
<p>"The garden you desire is one of brimstone and fire! It's no paradise!" Yusuke said.</p>
<p>"You're no better than the humans you claim to control!" Queen shouted.</p>
<p>"Just shut your stupid crystal face and die like the boss is supposed to!" Oracle shouted.</p>
<p>"You've done nothing but bring hardships to the world! You're just some sick puppet master toying with humanity for fun! We'll be your end, you false god!" Noir screamed, her voice giving out after her words.</p>
<p>"You claim humans are weak and need to be guided by you, but you're just some vain self centered idea in the back of humanities mind! Humans are stronger than that! We'll take you down, and we'll definitely take the world!" Morgana shouted.</p>
<p>All was silent for a few seconds. Even the people down below were quiet at the things they heard. Yaldabaoth couldn't seem to think of anything to say in response, it's massive crystal and gold form simple standing there, likely in surprise. Then, a voice broke the silence.</p>
<p>"Come on! You can do it Phantom Thieves!"</p>
<p>A rally cry pulling everyone together, getting them to hope and cheer for them. They seemed to stand straighter as the people's belief in them seemed to grow, as if they were praying for them to win.</p>
<p>"I'll definitely see my justice through to the end for the sake of protecting what I care about. It's the same for you guys right?" Morgana asked.</p>
<p>"Yeah. Let's beat him together." Panther nodded.</p>
<p>"Let's give this false god his final warning."</p>
<p>"We're taking you down." Akira said.</p>
<p>As the cheering reached a fever pitch, Akira's mask dissolved, a red figure with wings appearing behind him. He reached out for the chains around him and pulled, snapping them. The figure behind him began to glow and energy swirled around it as it growled. It exploded in a brilliant flash of white, sending streaks shooting across the sunset dyed sky. But nothing seemed to happen after that.</p>
<p>"<strong>So you have failed to harness the power. As if the cheers of the foolish masses could-.</strong>" Thunder cracked and the false god looked to the darkening sky. Akira laughed through his nose with a cocky smirk on his face she recognized he did when he lured her into a trap in their shogi games. Slowly, a figure as tall as the false god itself began to descend. It had a golden mask and long horns pointing forward. It' had three sets of black bat-like wings with a matching halo spinning above its head and a gun that was at least as tall as a sky scraper.</p>
<p>"Dude, that's huge!" Skull said.</p>
<p>"No way… This power! This thing is a Persona?!" Morgana asked.</p>
<p>The crowds from below looked on in astonishment, just as Hifumi did. For this, this massive thing to be Akira's true power… There were no words that fit the awe and wonder she felt at the sight.</p>
<p>"<strong>Fools… This is why humanity is doomed.</strong>"</p>
<p>"When a god acts up, it's a demon lords place to put them back in check. What better finale as a trickster, right joker? We're entrusting this to you. Take him out!" Morgana said.</p>
<p>"Show the strength of will to ascertain all on thy own, though thou be chained to hell itself." Akira said to himself, raising his gun and his persona following suit. Yaldabaoth attacked, but it did nothing to the Phantom Thieves.</p>
<p>"Checkmate." Akira pulled the trigger.</p>
<p>The sound of glass shattering rang in Hifumi's ears. The site of the bullet hole through the usurpers head as the sky returned to its late afternoon blue was something that would be burned into her mind for years.</p>
<p>"<strong>What power… It's stronger than mine own, born from the wishes of humanity. So this… Is the true power of the Trickster…</strong>"</p>
<p>"Akira!" Hifumi shouted as she ran up to Akira, the barrier between them fading with the false god.</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>Hifumi leaned against Akira as they finished off their Christmas Cake. They sat on his bed in his draft attic bedroom with only his heater and each other for warmth as they watched the snow fall outside his window.</p>
<p>"You know you should have told me."</p>
<p>"Hm?"</p>
<p>"You should have told me how dangerous your job was."</p>
<p>"I didn't want you to worry."</p>
<p>"I'm your girlfriend. It's my job to worry about you. Especially if you're doing thing so dangerous you don't even notice how badly you're hurt."</p>
<p>"I didn't get hurt that badly before that fake god."</p>
<p>"Akira, you were impaled by 6 swords and got up like you didn't feel it. I could see the blood leaking from your wounds." She said, looking up into his eyes. She hoped she looked more upset than sad. He frowned and she seemed to get her point across.</p>
<p>"Fine. But it's over now. That should be our last job forever. Yaldy was the thing holding the Metaverse together."</p>
<p>"Yaldy?"</p>
<p>"He doesn't deserve the respect of using his actual name."</p>
<p>"You're such a dork sometimes Akira." She giggled.</p>
<p>"That's rich coming from you."</p>
<p>"Yeah, yeah." She smiled.</p>
<p>"I love you my Warrior Queen."</p>
<p>"And I love you, my Demon Lord."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Tides of Temperance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Major plot spoilers ahead.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sadayo considered herself a woman with simple pleasures in life. She liked relaxing, she liked sweets, she liked wine on occasion, and she liked her job. She also liked her boyfriend. It helped that he was the reason she got to fully enjoy her simple pleasures again instead of worrying about paying off the deadbeat guardians of a former student. He was why, on a Sunday afternoon, she could be out in the city and enjoying a cat cafe she'd read about online.</p><p>It was a shame, though, that she didn't get to see him too often these days. It had been 21 days, counting today, since she'd been able to see him. He was apparently caught up in something far bigger than he was expecting to deal with so had been playing dead, rarely leaving the house unless he absolutely needed to. She got to text him, sure, and maybe the occasional video call if she wasn't too tired or busy give him that attention. She'd been too embarrassed to do that too frequently after she'd fallen asleep during one once.</p><p>Still, she'd rather he play dead than actually be dead. She couldn't forget how her heart twisted when she saw on the news he was dead. She'd left work early for the first time in a while after that. Went home and cried for a while before actually texting him to make sure he was actually alive. She'd never been more scared to send a text than at that moment. She couldn't even bring herself to straight out ask him, instead making sure he was okay in some roundabout way that involved the school. For the few seconds it took to send the text and get an answer she was terrified. Of course when he did text back she immediately called him, called him an asshole for making her worry, then cried again. Really, who did he think he was making her worry like that? She was way to old to be acting like some love sick teenager even if the stakes were pretty high in this case. The fact she was too scared to even send a text to make sure he was alright meant he had wormed his way so deep into her heart she wasn't sure what she'd do when he had to go back to his hometown in a few months. She couldn't even spend valuable time with him since he had to play dead. It really sucked.</p><p>As she made her way home, a crepe in a box for later, she had to pass by the Diet Building to get to the station. As she was passing by she noticed a group of students. Her students. Well, most of them. There was tall blue haired boy and a short orange haired girl she didn't recognize, but she could tell the others were definitely Ann Takamaki, Ryuji Sakamoto, Makoto Niijima, and Haru Okumura, which meant the boy in the hood had to be her fake dead boyfriend, Akira Kurusu. At first she was upset he was supposed to be laying low yet here he was hanging out with his friends in broad daylight. She approached them to give him a piece of her mind, but as she got closer she could hear them talking.</p><p>"— Only have to deal with the Cleaner and we should be done." Niijima said.</p><p>"This is going to be tough. This guy is basically a hit man. What kind of shadow do you think he'll be?" Takamaki asked.</p><p>"I don't know, but considering what else we've had to face so far, likely something strong." The orange haired girl said.</p><p>"We can worry about that when we find him. We're in the final stretch. Once we get this done all that's left is the treasure. So we get in, get to the engine room, beat the boss, and we're done." Akira said.</p><p>"You make it sound like we can't negotiate." Niijima said.</p><p>"That worked literally once and the guy was such an asshole Haru called for his head."</p><p>"I-I didn't call for his head exactly." Okumura sputtered.</p><p>"You wanted him dead. Not that I disagree with you, but my point is talking rarely works for these types of situations."</p><p>"You talk to demons all the time though." The orange haired girl said.</p><p>"I was specifically referring to boss level enemies."</p><p>"Can we just get going already." Takamaki said.</p><p>Despite hearing their conversation, and being confused by it, she didn't stop walking towards them. She figured they were talking about a game or something. She doubted the Diet Building had an Engine room or anything like that. If they were here on Phantom Thief business, she couldn't imagine who they would be after. Then, two voices spoke at once.</p><p>"Hey, is that Kawakami?" Sakamoto asked.</p><p>
  <em>Beginning Navigation.</em>
</p><p>She felt a pulse wash over her as the students sort of panicked. A few more pulse waves rolled over her and she nearly fell. She felt someone holding her up as the dizziness slowly faded. She looked up to find Akira holding her up, but he was dressed different. He had on some wild black outfit and a white porcelain mask. She'd be lying if she said it didn't look good on him.</p><p>"You okay?"</p><p>"Yeah… What was that."</p><p>"Hard to explain. Quick version, welcome to the Metaverse, where people's most fucked up parts of themselves take physical form." He said, theatrically waving to the area around them. She could see the Diet Building, her students dressed in similarly odd clothes and… The ocean? All around was nothing but water and destroyed buildings sticking up from it.</p><p>"Are… Are we on a ship?"</p><p>"We are." The blue haired boy said.</p><p>"This is how Shido sees the Diet Building. How he sees all of Japan. A ship among the wreckage for him to control." Takamaki explained.</p><p>"Shido?" She asked. "As-As in Representative Shido?"</p><p>"Yup." The orange haired girl said.</p><p>"I don't… I don't understand."</p><p>"You don't have to." Niijima said.</p><p>"Is… Is this what you do? This is why you never told me specifically how you did it?" She turned to Akira.</p><p>"Would you have believed me?"</p><p>"Probably not." She said.</p><p>"Wait, she knows?!" Sakamoto asked.</p><p>"Yeah…" Akira said slowly.</p><p>"How? Wait, how are you two so close?!" Niijima asked.</p><p>"Wait… Don't tell me…" Sakamoto got a wide smile on his face.</p><p>"Are you dating our teacher?!" Takamaki asked.</p><p>"Yeah." He said. He didn't sound proud, but he also didn't sound regretful. He just said it.</p><p>"Joker!" Okumura gasped.</p><p>"Oh shit! This is the best!" Sakamoto shouted. "Oh my God, Joker, I can't!" He started running around laughing before running into Akira, wrapping one arm around his neck and hanging off of him. "Joker, bro, this is the greatest! You have no idea how many guys at school would be jealous of you! This has got to be like… Oh fuck!" He laughed harder, getting Akira to smile.</p><p>"How did this… When did you…" Niijima was stuck in a loop of trying to figure it out while Okumura seemed to have shut down.</p><p>"I actually can't believe this!" Takamaki shouted. "You're dating our teacher?!"</p><p>"I don't know why you're so surprised, Panther. I told you and Skull on the Hawaii trip I liked Cakes." Akira said. He was slapped by all 4 women simultaneously while Skull laughed harder.</p><p>"That's what you meant?! Holy fuck I'm gonna die!" Sakamoto was on the ground holding his stomach.</p><p>"I'll admit I deserved that, but I'm not apologizing." Akira said.</p><p>"It's not that funny, Sakamoto!" Kawakami snapped.</p><p>"Yes it is!" He said.</p><p>"How long have you been dating?" Niijima finally asked.</p><p>"We officially started dating July 8th." Akira answered.</p><p>"So you were already together by the time we went to Hawaii." Takamaki said.</p><p>"So that's why you didn't hang with me and Mishima that day." Sakamoto said, getting up off the ground.</p><p>"I mean, even if I wasn't in a relationship at that point, I had other options."</p><p>"Like who?!" She asked, Sakamoto echoing her sentiment. She noticed Niijima go a little red. She'd have to have words with her boyfriend about this later.</p><p>"I'll tell you later babe." Akira said to her. "And maybe I'll tell you, Skull. I don't know yet. You'll probably die of laughter."</p><p>"Alright."</p><p>"So, now that we've resolved that, let's get going. Oracle, you have a good route to the engine room mapped out?"</p><p>"Yup! Got us the fastest way their without having to go through the mouse puzzles again." Oracle said.</p><p>"Good. We're kinda short on time here, so we're making a mad dash there, full sprint." Several of them groaned. "None of that. It won't even be that long of a run." He turned to her. "You think you can keep up? We're pretty fast. One of us can carry you if you want."</p><p>She felt her face turn red at the prospect of being carried. Either he did it or one of the others did, and she wasn't too keen on either.</p><p>"I-I can keep up." She said.</p><p>"Alright then. I think we're good to go."</p><p>—</p><p>She couldn't keep up.</p><p>She really, really tried, but they were so fast. It was ridiculous they could run like this. Every time they stopped it was for her to catch her breath. The others weren't even breaking a sweat even though they were sprinting full tilt up and down multiple sets of stair. When they finally made it out to the deck she was glad they slowed to a jogging pace for her. They came to a vent and she blanched.</p><p>"You're not serious are you?" She asked.</p><p>"It's the only way to the engine room." Niijima explained.</p><p>"Just be glad you don't have to go in front of Skull. He'd try to look up your skirt."</p><p>"No I wouldn't! It's not my fault I get a face full of ass every time we need to go through a vent. Besides, you should be happy you have enough ass to want to look at. You could be built like a stick in stead." Skull said.</p><p>"Hey! Don't talk about Lady Ann like that!" She Morgana say. She didn't notice him at first, but when she did she freaked out and tried to hit him. It took Akira and Sakamoto to get her to calm down enough for them to explain it was just Morgana. That made her calm down, but it was still weird.</p><p>"It could be worse, Panther." Akira said.</p><p>"How?"</p><p>"You could be Queen."</p><p>All eyes snapped to Niijima, who had been watching the walk way for enemies before, and she moved her hands to block their view and turned to them, red faced and glaring at Akira.</p><p>"I mean…" Panther started. "I guess. That much ass squeezed into leather that tight must be illegal."</p><p>"Hey!"</p><p>Sadayo couldn't help giggling along with her students.</p><p>"All right, that's enough teasing Queen." Okumura said lightly. "We've still got a fight to take care of."</p><p>"Right. Queen, I want you at the end. Just so Sadayo doesn't have to be the last one in if an enemy shows up."</p><p>"Right."</p><p>—</p><p>"Why is it all Baphomets?" Akira complained as he fired his gun at the enemy.</p><p>Six demons, she couldn't call them anything else, floated around them. All copies of the same goat/human hybrid with pitch black fur, large wings, and a fire burning on its head. They dropped into the engine room to find some Yakuza looking guy and some soldiers. He looked annoyed to see them again and sicked some of his soldiers on them before walking off.</p><p>"They aren't that hard to kill." Oracle said.</p><p>"Indeed." Fox agreed. "They certainly aren't the most difficult thing we've come across in this palace." He dodged a pillar of fire and retaliated with an ice attack.</p><p>"Doesn't make fighting six of them any less of a pain in the ass." Sakamoto said as he bashed one in the head with his weapon.</p><p>"Seriously! Every time we run into this guy he just throws a bunch of the same demon at us." Takamaki said as she swung her whip, pulling one to the ground.</p><p>"Stop complaining." Queen shouted, nuking another.</p><p>Okumura didn't say anything. She just giggled like a cartoon villain as she fired her grenade launcher several times at the downed enemies.</p><p>Sadayo was standing away from the fighting, but it still astounded her. Not just how good they were at it, but how they could speak so casually during a fight. She was still baffled by the appearance of the monsters and displays of magic, let alone how well they fought and how unfazed by it they all were. The amount of time it must have taken to fight like this and not have to focus enough that they could just talk… They must have more practice than she was willing to consider.</p><p>Once that fight was done they had to go through another vent to get to their target. She wasn't really sure what they were talking about, but she knew they needed a letter for something and this guy had it. She wasn't sure what happened next, because Fox got out paper and started to draw, which led to a fight. She was a little too far out of ear shot to get everything, but she knew she heard something about tattoos.</p><p>The fight went… Well, she wouldn't really know, but the fact that they came out of it okay and no one seemed particularly injured, she was calling it a net win. Everything seemed to be going smoothly as they walked towards the door to the engine room. The group was excited, glad to be done. The Akira stopped, pushing her back. She stepped behind the group, watching as a figure jumped from the rafters above. She could see a white outfit and a red mask that reminded her of a Tengu. The figure stepped forward and she couldn't help but recognize him.</p><p>"Long time no see." He said.</p><p>"Oh shit!" Akira said.</p><p>"What are you doing here?" Oracle asked.</p><p>"It seems I've underestimated you. I'm quite surprised and impressed you managed to deceive me. You are truly interesting, Joker. Quiet, yet you have the determination and courage to let nothing stand in your way. If things had gone differently… we could have been great rivals. Maybe even friends."</p><p>"You thing we aren't already rivals?" Akira asked.</p><p>He laughed. "You really… You don't allow yourself to be shackled by things like expectations or your past, so your heart is always free. The opposite of me. I'm envious." He sneered.</p><p>"Akechi…" Takamaki sighed.</p><p>That's where she recognized him from! Goro Akechi, the Detective Prince! The hair, the voice, she felt stupid for not seeing it earlier.</p><p>"But none of that happened. No point dwelling on hypotheticals."</p><p>"Akechi," Niijima started, "Why are you working with someone like Shido? You see the state of his Palace right? The way he sees the country and—."</p><p>"Don't misunderstand, Niijima. I don't care for Shido or this country. Working for him is merely a matter of convenience. All of this has been to make my father, Masayoshi Shido, acknowledge me. Then I'll exact my revenge on him."</p><p>"Shido is your father?!" Fox asked.</p><p>"Oh shit!" Sakamoto shouted.</p><p>"Remember I said my mother was with some good-for-nothing man? My very existence is a scandal. I was a cursed child for my mother, too. Her life turned for the worst after she had me. Until she eventually drank herself to death. I hated him. Held on to that resentment. By the time I was able to actually do anything, he was already a high ranking government official. I wasn't in a position to try anything." He said.</p><p>"That's horrible." Takamaki said.</p><p>"But," He smiled viciously, "That's when it happened." He giggled to himself and threw his arms up theatrically. "I discovered the cognitive world. Something, god or demon, gave me my chance! I couldn't contain my laughter."</p><p>"You son of a—." Sakamoto started.</p><p>"Who cares? My targets were all doing the same damn thing in the eat or be eaten world! All I did was remove their evil from the world. How is that any different than you?!"</p><p>"We aren't murderers!" Takamaki shouted.</p><p>"So what?! Masayoshi Shido is finally within my grasp! Once he wins the election I'll be there to whisper in his ear who I really am! Then I'll have him! Me, an utter disgrace to the world, will have power over him! I'll have won!"</p><p>"How twisted." Fox said. "It's almost pitiable."</p><p>"I was so close! Just a few more days and I'd have won. But I still have my chance. All I have to do is kill you."</p><p>Sadayo shivered. His voice said he meant business. He really was going murder all of them just for a shot at vengeance.</p><p>"It'll take more than a kid throwing a tantrum to kill us."</p><p>"Don't lecture me you piece of shit! I'll personally thrust Shido into a living hell! So you can all rest easy and die!"</p><p>"Think you can really kill us?" Akira asked dismissively. He always got like that when put into a situation he didn't want to be in. Tried to make people second guess themselves and crush their confidence before a confrontation. It usually worked at school because of his reputation, but Akechi was different. She wasn't sure how, but she knew he wasn't going down without a fight.</p><p>"Yeah, you think you have a chance against all of us? We know all your tricks from when you worked with us!" Sakamoto said cockily.</p><p>"Oh, Joker, how have you been so successful with such a dumb partner?"</p><p>"You're bluffing."</p><p>"If he's really behind the mental shutdown's, he's likely only shown us a fraction of his power." Niijima said.</p><p>"I'll show you true power… while you die! You can take that knowledge with you to the grave!" He snapped his fingers and two Shadows appeared, one a large white lion and the other a man dressed in silver with a spear. "The mental shutdowns aren't the only thing in the news. You've forgotten about the breakdowns, making people go psychotic and causing scandals and accidents. It would be impossible unless one had the power to make people go psychotic." He chuckled. "Yes, that is my power! I'll show you first hand! Persona!"</p><p>A large black figure with a sword appeared behind him, twirling its blade. The Shadows turned black and their eyes gold.</p><p>"Holy shit!" Sakamoto shouted.</p><p>"Kill them!" Akechi shouted as he backed away.</p><p>"Sadayo, get back." Akira said.</p><p>She obeyed, stepped away from the fight. She backed up to the stairs as they started fighting. The enemies screamed as they were engulfed in a black light for a few seconds before charging.</p><p>"What the hell did he do to them?!" Oracle shouted from above. "These things are way stronger now!"</p><p>"Calm down! They're still the same enemies as before! No lightning attacks on Cu Chulain and no fire attacks on Cerberus!" Niijima shouted.</p><p>Fox pulled his mask. "Susano-o! Brave Blade!" The warrior was hit and Takamaki followed up with a pillar of fire that engulfed it. It didn't go down, but it looked weakened. Akira had summoned a tornado or something to hit the Cerberus while Okumura hit it with some type of gun attack.</p><p>"Guys, whatever Akechi did lowered their defense. They hit way harder, but they also get hit harder. It's a sacrificial buff." Oracle shouted.</p><p>The enemies, despite being severely wounded, didn't stop their mad assault. Takamaki was almost impaled, but Sakamoto took the hit for her. She lit the warrior up while Morgana went to heal him. Okumura finished of the Cerberus by firing a grenade down its throat when it tried to attack Morgana.</p><p>"Peace of cake." Akira said.</p><p>"That power… He used that on actual people?! He's out of his mind." Oracle said.</p><p>"Of course." Akechi said. "I wouldn't expect you to go down to weaklings like that. You did trick me and escape death, after all. Now the real fun begins." He stepped forward and prepared to strike. "I'd never give up the chance to kill you with my own hands!" He dashed forward, intent to stab Akira in the heart. Akira rolled out of the way and Sakamoto tried to hit him with lightning, but Akechi dodged. Fox tried to surprise him from the side with a sword strike, but Akechi blocked it.</p><p>"Noir!"</p><p>"Got it! Come, Milady! Makarakarn!"</p><p>A wall of blue appeared in front of Akira as Akechi knocked Fox back in time to dodge an attack from Niijima</p><p>"You think that puny shield will stop me, Joker?! Persona!" A white figure appeared behind him and a pillar of white light expanded on The Phantom Thieves like a nuclear bomb. When the light cleared she saw them all standing, but they looked a bit hurt.</p><p>"Fox, Queen, Skull, you know what to do." Akira said.</p><p>"On it." The three said.</p><p>Okumura and Akira held off Akechi while the other three pulled their masks off, pillars of red, green, and purple light surrounded the team while Takamaki prepared her attack.</p><p>"Get back!" She shouted.</p><p>Akira pulled his gun, shooting Akechi in the thigh as he dodged back.</p><p>"Agidyne!"</p><p>Akechi went up in a pillar of flames. As soon as it cleared, showing a still burning Akechi, Sakamoto Dashed in with his hammer, slamming it down on Akechi's head. Niijima and Morgana attacked at the same time, wind and nuclear damage apparently amplifying the fire, as Akechi screamed in agony.</p><p>"Noir, the other one." Akira said.</p><p>"On it!" She pulled her mask as Akira fired his gun twice more at Akechi, apparently to distract him from the yellow wall going up around him.</p><p>Akechi made his way shakily to his feet, breathing heavy. "So we've both been holding back, huh? That's fine. I'll end you with this! Persona!"</p><p>"He's charged up! Everyone watch out!" Oracle shouted.</p><p>"Kill him!"</p><p>Akechi's Persona fired an arrow into the air. It came down like a rocket on Akira and Sadayo felt her chest tighten for a moment. Then the arrow was deflected and returned the damage to Akechi, who dropped to his knees with a scream.</p><p>"Damn it!" Akechi said.</p><p>"I thought the ability to make people psychotic might have been something special, but it seems it really is just his power." Morgana said.</p><p>"I can't believe such a power came from his heart. To naturally have that ability…" Niijima trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought.</p><p>"I'll kill you!" Akechi shouted, his voice pained and filled with desperation. "You're all gonna die!"</p><p>"Stop, Akechi! We're after the same person! You shouldn't be fighting us!" Takamaki yelled.</p><p>"Killing us won't make you happy.." Okumura said.</p><p>"But…"</p><p>"Dude, fuck Shido! You're your own person! You can't let him control you like this!" Sakamoto shouted.</p><p>"I don't think I could every forgive you for what you did to my mother." Oracle started. "But… You have a chance to start over. You can atone for what you've done. You don't have to walk this path anymore."</p><p>"And you don't really hate Joker, do you? You seemed happy before the fight started. That's how you really feel, right?"</p><p>"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! Friendship? Teammates?! To hell with that!" Akechi shakily made his way to his feet. "Why are you so much better than me?! I was extremely particular about my life, from my looks, to my grades, to the people I spent time with! All of it tailored specifically so someone would want me around! I'm a celebrity! An ace detective! You're just criminal scum living in an attic! So how?! How does someone like you have things that I don't?! How can worthless trash like you be so much better than me?!"</p><p>Sadayo felt her eyes water up. It was all just so sad. Even if he'd done horrible things, no one should have to live the life Akechi had. She just felt… bad. She felt bad that he had structured his life around wanting others to want him. Around the need for others acknowledgment. Yet he still couldn't get it. All the status in the world couldn't fill that hole in his heart. She looked to Akira. She couldn't see his face but she knew he was frowning. She knew he felt a connection to him because they were so similar.</p><p>"You can still come back from this, Akechi." Akira said.</p><p>"Don't give me that cliche bullshit!" He was engulfed in that same black as the monsters from before had been.</p><p>"What was that?" Niijima asked, startled.</p><p>"A black mask." Fox said.</p><p>"So what Madarame and Kaneshiro said before was true." Morgana said.</p><p>"You're really behind the mental shut downs." Niijima said.</p><p>"Oh, this is great!" Akechi said, manic laughter bubbling up. "I'm truly surprised. This is a first for me. I might actually have to try my hardest against you." He laughed again. "This should be fun. I wonder how far I can go with this?</p><p>"Fun?"</p><p>"Holy shit, dude." Sakamoto said.</p><p>"You're not satisfied with how we left things, either, are you Joker? You and I are going to strike and strike, and keep striking until one of us is dead! Just picturing it…" He giggled. "It send chills down my spine. What Shido thinks of me? I don't care any more. None of it matters. All I care about now is killing you!"</p><p>"Holy shit, dude!"</p><p>"Sadayo, get up the stairs." Akira turned to her.</p><p>"But—."</p><p>"Up the stairs!"</p><p>Sadayo flinched at his voice. She rushed up the stairs, as much as she didn't want to. She knew she'd be safer from the fighting up here, but she didn't want to leave him down there despite the fact she couldn't help. She wasn't really close enough to hear them anymore, but she was still able to make out some of the things that were shouted.</p><p>As Akechi went up in a pillar of black, she hear him talk.</p><p>"I'll show you who I really am! Come! Loki!" Akechi's clothes began to turn black as a black and white specter appeared behind him. "Justice?! Righteousness?! Keep that shit to yourselves! You and your self-righteous ideals piss me off! You're going down! I'll destroy you! Go down with me!" The pillar of black and red just got brighter and more intense as he spoke.</p><p>"No way!" Sakamoto shouted. "That bastard made himself go psychotic!"</p><p>Akechi laughed, head tossed back like he was in pure ecstasy. It was sick and manic, almost stereotypically evil.</p><p>"Now let's see you drop dead one by one in front of your <em>precious</em> friends! And don't worry, Joker, I'll leave you alive long enough to watch me put a few bullets in that whore girlfriend of yours." He looked right at her as he said that. She couldn't help but shiver at the manic glee in his eyes at the mere thought of killing her. She felt cold and wanted nothing more than to be away from him, but she couldn't run. Not only would she not last a second on the ship by herself, but she wouldn't abandon Akira like that. Not after everything he'd helped her with. He was there for her in her lowest moments and she'd be here with him as much as she could through this.</p><p>Akechi dashed forward, sword again aimed at Akira. He didn't dodge this time, but the blow didn't seem to hurt him. What followed was basically a cacophony of light. She could barely keep up with the action. Magic was thrown around like candy on Halloween. Akechi was more reckless in his movements and more focused on Akira to the point it was a detriment. He was quick, but he had no problem just getting hit by Fire, Ice, Wind, or Lightning just to deal damage to Akira. He moved across the battlefield with incredible speed. He'd knock Akira away and go after another one of the team, knocking Morgana out of the fight first to keep him from healing anyone. Slowly, as the fight went on, more and more of The Phantom Thieves went down to Akechi's violent onslaught. She couldn't help but liken his vicious attacks to a blender.</p><p>Akira become more desperate as the fight went on, fighting harder with each teammate that went down. Akechi wasn't killing them yet. He seemed to want to make sure Akira saw all his friends die. His sick, manic smile grew wider every time Akira seemed to shout something at him. The two sides wore one another down and it was only Akira, Skull, and Niijima left standing.</p><p>"Ardha! Cosmic Flare!"</p><p>Akechi screamed as he fell to his knees.</p><p>Everything went quiet, but she could tell they were having a heartfelt moment. Akechi looked so defeated. It reminded her of how Akira looked when he opened up to her about how everything at school really affected him. Vulnerable. She really wished she could hear what they were saying now. As things seemed to be winding down another Akechi appeared, holding a gun to the real one. His smile was every bit as manic as it's original. Gun fire rang out and both Akechi's doubled over. He eventually shot towards the group but he hit a button and a wall went up.</p><p>"Akechi!" Takamaki shouted.</p><p>It was quiet again but they all seemed distressed. Gun fire rang out again and she could feel the somber mood from where she was. Eventually they walked up towards her, silent as could be. She didn't say anything when Akira grabbed her hand as they walked.</p><p>—</p><p>"Do you want to talk?" Sadayo asked. They were lying in her bed at her apartment. It was a little past midnight and they'd finished a movie not too long ago, though she could tell his mind was on what had happened with Akechi.</p><p>"Not really." He said.</p><p>"Well too bad. You obviously need to. So tell me."</p><p>"Akechi died."</p><p>"I… Figured as much. How are you feeling about it?"</p><p>"Bad. He was an asshole. Real grade A fucking asshole. Told me to my face more than once he hated me. He tried to kill me and my friends. And yet I just feel really bad he's dead. We had a connection, I think. We had a sort of understanding."</p><p>"Because you two were so much alike?"</p><p>"What?" He sat up. She sat up with him.</p><p>"I saw it earlier when Akechi was talking about his life. And after you all had won. I couldn't help but feel bad for him, but more than that, I saw the similarities between the two of you."</p><p>"You're serious?" He seemed offended by the notion, but he was also really defensive about it.</p><p>"I am. Akira, more than anything from this situation, I saw what you could have been."</p><p>"What I could have been? Do you hear yourself? Akechi was a monster. He slaughtered so many people for a chance at revenge that wasn't even going to work out. I know we had a few things in common, but how could I have gone that route?"</p><p>"Of course you don't see it. Because you're too nice. I'm sure your friends realized it as well, but you could have easily gone the psycho murderer route. Your ability to let negative situations slide off of you is something a lot of people lack. It's something Akechi lacked. You know how hurt you are that everyone still thinks you're some hyper-violent criminal? If you didn't have such a good heart, if you weren't so good at dealing with how absolutely trash your situation is, you could have turned out like Akechi. You could have let all that resentment build up and fester and morph into a terrible hatred for other people. You could have used your powers to kill any number of people. Hell, a lot of average people would agree that some of the people you've dealt with don't deserve to live! But you don't let your personal feelings get in the way of doing what you think is right. You push forward for a brighter future, helping others along the way. The difference between you and Akechi is smaller than you seem to think. Literally it's just how you handle adversity. It's not a bad thing, in fact it's good. You show a perseverance most adults don't have. That's part of what I love so much about you. You just brighten the lives of everyone around you."</p><p>"I don't… I guess. But I wouldn't have been able to do much without my powers."</p><p>"That doesn't matter. The fact of the matter is you used them to help people. You know what would have happened if I was in your position when you took down Kamoshida? He'd be dead. He wouldn't be able to atone for any sins because he'd be in hell. Most people would probably follow Akechi's path given that kind of power, but you didn't. That's the difference. As similar as you are, there are a lot of major differences. You don't have to feel bad about it. Most importantly you don't have to feel bad alone."</p><p>Akira was silent for a few seconds before falling into her. She wrapped her arms around him.</p><p>"I just wish things didn't have to be so complicated. This is so much bigger than I was expecting. I knew our lives were at stake, but not to this extent. Even with Akechi dead if we fail at taking out Shido it's all over. I know there's no way we could have done anything different with Akechi. He was going to jail either way. As you said a lot would say he deserved to die, but still. I didn't want him to go out like that."</p><p>"Life can be hard like that. Even when you know someone is a monster you can still want them to do good in life because you've built a bond with them. Sometimes there's nothing you can do about it. It's a fucked up lesson to learn, but it's an unfortunate truth."</p><p>"I don't know if that was optimistic or not. Maybe learn how to give better pep talks."</p><p>"You're making jokes now, so obviously my pep talks are good."</p><p>He hummed, but she knew there was a smile on his face.</p><p>"Do you really think I could have been a monster?"</p><p>"Everyone has the potential to be a monster, Akira. It's a choice more often than not. Few people become monsters because they want to. It's a gradual change. A subtle change in morals over a period of time. Akechi… He wasn't like that. He was willing to do what he did from the start. Long answer short, I think it would take a lot to make you a monster."</p><p>"You know, I feel like we're a married couple."</p><p>"Talk about that when you're older. Now go to sleep." She dropped him onto his pillow and fell back onto hers, rolling over to hide her blushing face.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>